Amber Heard's makeup artist reveals death threats ahead of Johnny Depp trial

Mélanie Inglessis is asking California federal court to withdraw its order compelling her to testify against Johnny Depp in his libel case against The Sun via its parent company News Group Newspapers (NGN).

Inglessis, who worked as Amber Heard's makeup artist in 2015 and became her friend, said in a 2019 declaration that she covered the actress' bruised face and the cut on her lip with makeup so she could appear on "The Late Late Show with James Corden." She revealed that Heard told her "numerous" times that she had been abused.

NGN said her testimony is of "critical importance" in their trial with Depp, who sued the publication for defamation after The Sun published a story that called him a "wife beater." NGN wants her to testify during a live video feed, which could take place sometime on July 17 and July 28 in Beverly Hills.

However, Inglessis filed a motion with California court's Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh asking him to withdraw the order compelling her to testify. She reasoned that she has received "death threats and faced online harassment" and fears for her safety.

"This case, and the related U.S. case, are high-profile matters involving international celebrities and are receiving intense media scrutiny. Ms. Inglessis genuinely fears for her safety as it is. If she is forced to testify for NGN, and, by extension, for its controversial tabloid, The Sun, the threats and harassment she faces will undoubtedly escalate," Inglessis' attorney Anya Goldstein wrote in the motion obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Likewise, Inglessis is worried that her testimony could jeopardise her career as a celebrity makeup artist because her clients expect privacy.

"Ms. Inglessis has offered to provide deposition testimony in a related U.S. case — with identical issues — to satisfy NGN's perceived need for her testimony while giving her some measure of protection. Despite offering the same accommodation to other U.S. witnesses, NGN has inexplicably rejected her offer," Goldstein added.

However, NGN is not backing down and called the proposed alternative unacceptable because it "would place Respondents at a significant disadvantage at trial." Instead, they assured Inglessis that the English court will put "more focus on the weight that a judge will give to a piece of evidence, rather than on whether that evidence is admissible or inadmissible."

NGN also argued that Inglessias cannot complain about job security in relation to her testimony because she already "voluntarily signed a declaration about events" in Heard and Depp's marriage that would be of "great importance" to the trial.