James Franco has been served papers to appear in court in the long-running bitter legal battle between Johnny Depp, 58, and his ex-wife Amber Heard, 35.

Franco, 43 years old, admitted to sleeping with acting students earlier this week. He will now be asked questions in court regarding whether he could have an extramarital affair while Depp was with Heard.  

Depp’s lawyers want to meet with him to verify that he has ever seen any bruises to Heard’s face.

Depp previously claimed that Heard slept with Franco during filming of The Adderall Diaries (2015). 

Franco’s deposition in the $50m defamation case against Heard will occur in the New Year. 

James Franco is set to be deposed in Johnny Depp's $50 million defamation against Amber Heard. Franco lived in the same building as Depp and Heard and he is to be questioned over whether he knew about the estranged couple's fights or whether bruises appeared on Heard

Johnny Depp is suing James Franco for $50 million in defamation against Amber Heard. Franco was in the same apartment as Depp, Heard and will be interrogated about whether or not he knew of the fights between the couple and whether or not bruises were on Heard.

Franco will be quizzed over whether he had affair with actress and if she saw bruises on her face during a visit to her apartment

Franco will be asked questions about his affair with the actress, and whether or not he saw any bruises on actress’s face while visiting her apartment. 

Amber Heard and James Franco attend the premier of the Adderall Diaries in 2015. Johnny Depp has previously accused Heard of sleeping with her co-star during filming

James Franco and Amber Heard attended the 2015 premiere of Adderall Diaries. Johnny Depp previously claimed that Heard slept with her co-star while filming.

Depp sued his ex-wife in Virginia through a court of law over an article that she wrote in 2018. It was about domestic violence.

Although she never mentioned Depp’s name, he believed that Heard was clearly referring to Depp as an abuser. Depp denies any abuse she suffered. 

She wrote that she became a public figure for domestic abuse and felt the full power of culture’s anger at women who spoke out in the December 2018 article. It didn’t include the name of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.

Depp claimed that Depp was the victim, but it damaged his reputation and caused him to lose his coveted title of Captain Jack Sparrow. 

Depp is suing his ex-wife through a court in Virginia over an op-ed article she wrote for the Washington Post in 2018 where she described how she was a victim of domestic violence. Amber Heard is pictured with bruises to her face in evidence from an earlier court case

Depp has filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife via Virginia court over an article she wrote in 2018 for Washington Post. In the article, she describes how she was victim to domestic violence. Amber Heard was pictured in court with bruises on her forehead. This is evidence from an earlier case.

Heard cataloged the 'horrific' abuse she claims to have suffered at Depp's hands, describing him as 'the monster' and recalling many of the allegations she made during their divorce. The filing included photos of bruises

Heard cataloged the 'horrific' abuse she claims to have suffered at Depp's hands, describing him as 'the monster' and recalling many of the allegations she made during their divorce. The filing included photos of bruises

Heard described the “horrific” abuse that she claimed to have received at Depp’s hand, calling him a’monster’ and recalling several of her claims during the divorce proceedings. Photographs of injuries and scarrings (left, right) were part of the file.

This is one of the clumps of hair left on the ground after Depp tore it from Heard during a December 2015 fight, she claims in legal filings

According to legal filings, this is one of many clumps left after Depp ripped it from Heard in a fight December 2015.

He claimed that he was the victim in an “elaborate hoax” to get positive publicity and promote Heard’s career.

‘Ms. It claims that Heard is not a victim to domestic abuse, but a perpetrator.

She hit me, punched and kicked. She repeatedly and often threw things into my head and body, including soda cans, heavy bottles and burning candles.

Heard replied with a 300-page filial of her own. She listed the horrific abuses she claimed to have received at Depp’s hand, described him as the monster, and recalled many of their claims during the divorce.

The file included photographs of Heard with bruises and scars as well as clumps from Heard’s hair. There were also photos of furniture that had been smashed to show the brutality she was said to have suffered after her hookup with Depp in The Rum Diary back in 2011.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heart were married for two years from 2015–2017

Johnny Depp and Amber Heart were married for two years from 2015–2017

As part of Depp's $50 million defamation case against Heard, he included images of his own bruised and battered face (pictured ) following Heard's alleged attacks

Depp is seen with a  bruise

Depp included photos of Heard’s battered, bruised and battered faces (left and right) as part of the $50 million case against him in defamation.

Following a dramatic three-week trial, in July 2020. Depp’s allegations of being a wife beater were deemed substantially false by the UK High Court. 

In one of the most prominent libel cases of this century, the judge found that Depp had assaulted Heard several times and placed her in the ‘fear her life’ at least three times while she was on drink- and drug binges. 

James Franco’s subpoena was sent to him by Depp’s legal team after  after surveillance video from May 2016 showed him getting into an elevator with Heard 24 hours after they had a massive fight in which Heard alleged she received a black eye at the hands of Depp.

Franco and Heard were filmed leaving the penthouse, where Depps & Heard lived together.

Depp’s legal team wants to speak to Franco to question him as a ‘witness’  to know if he discussed the fight with Heard or if Franco recalls seeing any injuries to Heard’s face.

Fairfax County, Virginia is hosting a 12-day trial beginning April 11, 2022.

In the suit, as seen by Page Six, Depp said, ‘I have denied Ms. Heard’s allegations vehemently since she first made them in May 2016 … when she walked into court to obtain a temporary restraining order with painted-on bruises that witnesses and surveillance footage show she did not possess each day of the preceding week. They will be denied for the rest my life. I have never abused Ms. Heard, or any other women.

Depp says he brought the case to ‘clarify my name, restore my reputation and try to make it clear to those women and men whose lives were harmed due to abuse and have repeatedly been misled by Ms. Heard pretending to be their spokesperson’

Heard’s legal team has said that Franco also lived in the building around the time of the alleged incident and would sometimes take the elevator together Such claims, according to Depp’s attorneys, are a ‘lie’. 

They were married in February 2015. However, they split two years later after Heard issued a restraining or for Depp because he had claimed that he had dropped a cell phone in their face in their loft in downtown Los Angeles.

Heard stated that the police have evidence regarding the May 27, 2016 assault, but LAPD officers later claimed in depositions that there were no clues to a crime.

Heard claims that Heard donated $7 million to charity after the couple reached an agreement on a $7million divorce settlement. But their back-and forth fight was only just beginning.

Franco continues to deal with his lawsuit. Franco admitted earlier this week in an extensive interview that he had been ‘addicted’ to sex. 

Franco said he slept at the acting school with students, and that he also cheated on his girlfriends during a twenty-year battle with’sex addiction’.

Actor was speaking publicly for the first-time since January 2018 when he was accused of sexual misconduct. He was accused by 5 women, 4 of his ex-students, and 1 who claimed he was their mentor.

One claimed that Franco removed a protective plastic guard covering actresses’ vaginas and simulated oral sex on them while filming a scene for a movie, while another said he asked actresses to remove their shirts on set. 

The Spider Man actor was later sued by two of these women, claiming that he had intimidated Studio 4 students into sexually exploitive situations. 

James Franco's involvement with Johnny Depp's and Amber Heard's lawsuit comes after surveillance footage shows him visiting Heard at her and Depp's apartment

James Franco’s involvement with Johnny Depp’s and Amber Heard’s lawsuit comes after surveillance footage shows him visiting Heard at her and Depp’s apartment

Committed: James has been dating Isabel since November 2017; Isabel and James pictured in 2019

James is committed to Isabel; Isabel and James were pictured together in 2019.

Franco originally denied all allegations, but in July he and the women who sued him settled for $2.2million.

The actor said he thought sleeping with students was ‘cool’ because it was ‘consensual,’ but admitted he was ‘completely blind to power dynamics … but also completely blind to people’s feelings.’ 

Franco admitted that he did sleep with students while speaking on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Podcast.

Before meeting Isabel Pakzad, a 28-year old actress who he is currently dating from November 2017, he also said he couldn’t be faithful to anyone.

Actress Charlyne Yi who accused Franco of being a ‘sexual predator’ earlier this year reposted tweets criticizing the actor on her Instagram feed, including one which said: ‘Took 4 years [for a response to the allegations]He still appears lacking and ineffective. It was not clear to him that teachers sharing their bedrooms with students would be considered a power imbalance. Yikes.’ 

Franco, a teenager, stated that he had a problem with alcohol and got sober as a result. [he]he was just 17′, his addictive behavior would eventually flood into his other aspects of life.

“Once alcohol was out of my reach, I found it hard to drink. Then, everything became great. It was validation, success, or any other term that I could get addicted to. 

“As I tried to climb up that mountain and get the success, the attention of women became my greatest source of validation. As you’re sure, the problem is that it’s impossible to have enough.

He explained that he was just trying to plug the hole, but it doesn’t get filled.  

He called sex’such an addictive drug’. Unfortunately, he ‘got hooked’ on it for another 20 years.