Law&Crime Sidebar - What's up with Johnny Depp and Alpacas at the Courthouse?

Episode Date: May 16, 2022

Throughout the trial of Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard, people have appeared at the Fairfax Co. Courthouse with alpacas. Depp himself made a reference to alpacas while leaving the courthouse one day. Seeing the animals had some people scratching their heads. But, if you've followed the trial, you likely get it. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy spoke with Andrea Diaz, a woman who has brought alpacas to the courthouse many times during the trial. Hear from here and listen to Johnny Depp talk about Disney and alpacas.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/LAW83 - enter promo code LAW83 for 83% off and 3 extra months for free!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will

keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Mr. Depp, if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film. That is true, Mr. Rodenborn. So what's up with Johnny Depp and the Alpacas? I'm Ann Janette Levy, and this is Law and Crimes Sidebar. Thanks for joining us for the latest edition of the podcast.

I want to tell you about one of our sponsors here on Law and Crime Sidebar. It is Surf Shark VPN. Surf Shark VPN can get rid of all of these problems for you with an easy-to-use, one-for-all solution. Surfshark turns you into an anonymous and hard-to-trace online user, and makes the internet a safer and more enjoyable place for you. With the click of a button, you can forget about data mining and intrusive advertisements. Just use the promo code Law 83 to get 83% off plus three extra months free.

SurfShark offers a 30-day money-back guarantee so there's no risk. Surf with your own set of rules, the link is in the description. I thought I would take it out of the courtroom today because I have been getting lots and lots of questions from people on social media, Also, on a YouTube chat that we had about alpacas in this video that we created on YouTube, and people are asking, what's up with Johnny Depp and Alpacas? Why are there people showing up at the courthouse with alpacas? Well, it's quite simple, actually.

This all has to do with the Walt Disney Company, right? Disney makes films. And for years and years and years, really almost, you know, two decades or so, Johnny Depp worked with Disney, and part of his, you know, part of the reason he is so famous and known worldwide and revered is because of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Depp was actually in talks, according to him and his agent, Jack Wiggum, with Disney in 2018, to film the sixth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Depp claims after Amber Heard's Washington Post op-ed was published, he received official word within days of the publication of that op-ed in, 2018, that he was out of the film, that there wasn't going to be a pirate six. And if there was, he wasn't going to be in it. So listen to Depp explain on redirect examination by his attorney,

Jessica Myers, that ex, that whole comment about the alpacas and how he would never work with Disney again. Mr. Depp, last week, Mr. Rottenborn asked you about a quote where you said you wouldn't come back to the Pirates franchise for $300 million and a million alpacas. Do you remember that? I do. When relative to learning that you would no longer be a part of the Pirates franchise, did you make that statement? I think long before I made the statement, there was a very deep and distinct

sense of having been betrayed by the people that I had been working with, the people that I had worked hard for, the people that I had delivered a character to that they initially despised, but somehow, you know, even if I stuck to my guns with the character and it seemed to work. So, do you recall when specifically, you made that statement about the three hundred million dollars and the hundred alpacas objection asked an answer oh who ruled I'll allow it um I believe I made that statement during a press conference in the San Sebastian film at the San

Sebastian Film Festival when I was I was asked about my I am well situation and what year would that have been if you can recall i believe it was last year or so so this is what the alpacas are all about this is why people are showing up at the courthouse with alpacas and just about two or three weeks ago actually i spoke with a woman who said she believed johnny depth saw the alpacas for the first time it was on a thursday and she said he was outside and kind of did a double take so listen to what he had to say as he was leaving the courthouse on that day. So here she is, Andrea Diaz.

She's on here with me to talk about why she has been bringing alpacas to the courthouse. She owns a business called My Pet Alpaca. Andrea, thanks for coming on and talking with us about this. Tell us why you decided to go up to the courthouse with your alpacas. Hi. Well, it was pretty improvised. I had just found out very late that the trial was being held in Fairfax County. So I got super excited. And the very next day is when I grabbed the two alpacas and I just decided to go. It was, as I said, it was pretty improvised. But because of my job, I take my alpacas everywhere, just like with your dog. So I didn't think much of it. I didn't know. at that moment about any of the alpaca comments that Johnny had made before. Really? Yeah, yeah.

You didn't know about the alpacas in Disney before you decided to put the alpacas in the car and take them down to the courthouse? Not at all. I had no idea. And people kept asking me when I showed up, like, why do you bring the alpacas? Did Johnny say he liked them? And I just said, I have no idea. I have no clue if he likes them or not, but I think they're cute.

Most people think they're cute. So, I mean, I'm just going to give it a shot, see how it. it goes if I get to see him of course I was standing on the wrong door um but yeah we saw you standing at the front door right with your alpacas like on leashes or something right yeah i mean i had no clue what i was doing i just went for it so you show up with the alpacas you're saying you have no idea that johnny depp had made this comment about um never wanting to work with disney again even if they gave him three hundred million dollars and a million alpacas so this was just total coincidence? Pretty much, yeah. I mean, I just, I bring my alpacas everywhere, right? So I bring

them to Starbucks when I have a moment off. We bring him to the park. We take him for a run. We took him to Lake Fairfax quite a few times just to go for a swim in the creek. So I really didn't like much of it. I just put the leashes on them, a few pom-poms, and we were going. Wow. So when did you find out that Johnny Depp had made this state? about the alpacas. So after everybody started asking about like the weird alpaca questions when I was there on the first day, I went back home and I just started scrolling, you know, my feeds. And then I saw one of the posts of that comment that he had made.

And I was like, oh my God, now everything makes like so much sense. So by the second time I showed up, I still wasn't at the right place technically, but at least I knew what he has said about the alpacas. So at the third day, we made a sign that said we're not from Disney, meaning like, you don't have to go back to pirates, you know, even though we would love it. But it doesn't matter. These are not from Disney. You can come and pet them if you want to type thing.

So he hasn't petted your alpacas, but he certainly saw them. How many times do you believe he's actually seen the alpacas there at the courthouse? So I know he's seen them twice. So we've been, the first day, of course, I was standing at the wrong door. Second day, I was standing at the wrong gate. So when he drove by saying hi to everybody, I was standing on the other side of the road. On the third day, then he saw them. And that's when he said, it's alpaca day.

And then when he drove by, he just looked very surprised. That's really funny. So, you know, you own this business called My Pet Alpaca, right? So what does that do? And I, this podcast is sponsored by Surfshark. Surfshark VPN can get rid of a lot of problems for you with an easy-to-use one-for-all solution. Surfshark turns you into an anonymous and hard-to-trace online user and makes the internet

a safer and more enjoyable place for you. With a click of a button, you can forget about data mining and intrusive advertisements. Use promo code law 83 to get 83% off plus three extra months free. Surf Shark offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so there's no risk at all. Surf with your own set of rules. The link is in the description. And you own this business called My Pet Alpaca, right? So what does that do?

And when we were talking a week or two ago, I was just shocked when you told me, keep your alpacas in the house and they're litter box trained. Yes. So since I was 11 back in Peru and Kusko, I owned alpacas and llamas. And it was just, it's, sorry, it wasn't a business. It was just for fun. We had the horses and the alpacas and the lamas and the dogs and that was it. So when I came to the States, I thought I could do the same thing.

So I just got my alpacas and I had as well like some pythons and the geckos and everything else besides the bunnies. We started the best because I couldn't work as a bartender anymore. So I just started bringing them out to people to see if maybe they liked them. And they did and that's how my pet alpaca started. It wasn't planned, but I'm really glad. happen because it's so much fun. And they are really cute. I mean, they're really and they're very sweet too. I got to pet Teddy and Truffle and they really are adorable. I want to switch gears a little bit and just talk to you about why you support Johnny Depp because obviously this is a very serious

case. The subject matter is incredibly serious. The allegations that are being made are really awful. Allegations of domestic violence, allegations of sexual assault. And it's a very serious case. And I think it's nice that we can talk about something lighthearted like your alpacas and why brought them to the courthouse. Given everything we've heard and, you know, things that have gone on over the last five or six years with this case, why do you support Johnny Depp? I've grown up watching his movies, right? And I usually try to avoid doing more research on an actor or a musician or a singer or whatever than I need to do, right? I'm aware that usually famous people don't like to have every secret of their lives uncovered, right? So I try to stay away from that as much as possible.

So I didn't know as quick as everybody else about the whole allegation thing. But as soon as I found out, I did research, right? Because that's what you're supposed to do. It is a serious accusation against him. And it didn't sit right with me, but you have to do research always, right? So I did it and I heard what she was saying and I heard what he was saying and what they did, you know, like their actions, how they behave with other people, how they treat other people. Because that tells you a lot about a person, you know. It's not all about like doing amazing in movies.

You got to look past that. So thankfully, I've never been a part of domestic violence, but I've seen it, right? and I've seen gaslighting and I've seen manipulation and all that stuff and it is my personal opinion that it kind of looks like what she's doing a little bit right and I see the actions of Johnny Depp I see how much time he spends at the kids hospital you know how much she donates how much it's just a little things you know it's just details the way of speaking um it's a whole bunch of stuff um but yeah after doing some research and paying more attention because i mean if if something happens to a girl you know and she's a victim of domestic

violence of course we're all going to jump to defend her right but if almost nobody's jumping to defend her it is for a reason i mean she the the recordings you know the videos the way that she um carries herself um and the way that she has treated other people as far as i know it It hasn't been the best. I mean, I don't want to speak bad of her, you know, because I don't know her personally, of course. But sure. And none of us were there. Yeah.

And none of us know her personally. And she's presenting her case. She's getting her chance now. But can I ask you just briefly? You said you've seen domestic violence. What was your experience with that? Oh, so I haven't seen it, but I've seen it in other people, right? So in my household, thank goodness, it has been amazing.

my whole life. But I have friends, you know, that have told me about this and I've met the people that were being violent against them. And it's, you can, you can totally see how they can manipulate, how they can lie, how they can gaslight the other person. I have not lived it myself, but I've seen it. That's, that's what I meant. And it looks exactly like that. Have you learned anything watching the trial? I mean, do you watch the trial every day? I know you're probably working as well, but there are a lot of clips out there on YouTube and such. I know that we stream the entire trial uninterrupted. So how much have you watched the actual trial?

Quite a bit, I would say, at least 90%, 95%. Well, I think they're holding onto straws, to be honest with you. It's everything on drugs and alcohol and try to get them that way. But that doesn't mean you're going to abuse them. you know, they, you could have problems with alcohol or drugs, you know, you can have a tough time at rehab, but that doesn't mean, again, you are an abuser. And I think they're really trying to milk that to make him look bad. And I mean, I guess we all have our issues, but it's, there has been no, no real proof. Amber Hurd is now presenting her case. She is getting her chance to tell her

story. You know, Andrea, we really appreciate you coming out, coming on the podcast to talk to us about the alpacas and just, I thought it was worth explaining because a lot of people on YouTube and stuff like that when we made this video last week, they were asking, what's up with the alpacas? I don't understand the alpacas. And I thought we should explain. And it's been really nice to talk with you. And I know that when I'm at the courthouse, I enjoy seeing the alpacas. I've only seen them a couple of times, maybe three times there with you. But they are really cool. And again, and we appreciate you coming on to... Oh, thank you so much for having me.

All right, that was Andrea Diaz, owner of my pet alpaca, and she shows up at the courthouse almost every day with her alpacas. So we really appreciate her coming on, and we appreciate you joining us for this edition of Law and Crime Sidebar. I'm Ann Janette Levy. We hope you join us for the next edition of Law and Crime Sidebar, and you can find us anywhere you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. We'll see you next time.

You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.