Amber Heard has had the fortune of reprising her role as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom despite all of the controversy that she has sparked following her defamation trial with Johnny Depp, and if there’s one person to thank for that, it’s Elon Musk. This is according to a new report that Variety published today, which discusses how Aquaman star Jason Momoa and director James Wan both tried to get Heard fired, but Warner Bros. was compelled to keep her around after Tesla’s CEO sent a “scorched-earth letter…threatening to burn the house down” if his ex-girlfriend was booted from the film. It’s unclear how much screen time Heard has in the final cut of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but the new film, which also sees Patrick Wilson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II back as Ocean Master and Black Manta, respectively, is out on December 20, 2023.
…the studio and Wan decided to drop the actress from the sequel due to her lack of chemistry with Momoa and sent a letter to her attorney, Karl Austen, informing him of its decision.
Ultimately, the studio never pulled the trigger on firing Heard because her former boyfriend, Elon Musk, had one of his litigators send a “scorched-earth letter to Warner Bros. threatening to burn the house down” if the actress wasn’t brought back for a sequel, says a source familiar with the behind-the-scenes battle. Warner Bros. caved and moved forward with Heard. (Musk did not respond to a request for comment.)