Amber Heard's sister slates MTV over featuring Johnny Depp in the VMAs

Johnny Depp's pre-recorded skit involved him dressing up as MTV's iconic Moonman logo, with the 59-year-old's face apparently superimposed in the space suit. Photo / Getty Images

Amber Heard's sister has slated MTV for featuring Johnny Depp in its 2022 Video Music Awards.

In the Dead Man actor's first TV appearance since the end of his six-week defamation trial against Heard, 36, Depp floated as a spaceman in a recurring sketch and made a joke apparently referencing the conclusion of the case.

Whitney Heard, 34, took to social media to voice her rage over his appearance, fuming on Instagram late on Sunday evening: "@MTV you're disgusting and clearly desperate! I really hope that none of the people that made this call have daughters."

She also shared another message on her Instagram Story in which she said: "I stand with Amber Heard", alongside an image that renamed the event the 'DVMAs' – in apparent reference to domestic violence.

Whitney Heard's post to Instagram over Depp's VMA appearance. Photo / Instagram

Depp's pre-recorded skit involved him dressing up as MTV's iconic Moonman logo, with the 59-year-old's face apparently superimposed in the space suit.

He said in a voiceover: "I just want you guys to know that I'm available for birthdays, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, weddings, wakes, any old thing you need."

"And you know what? I needed the work."

His joke was taken as a reference to his claims he struggled to get jobs in Hollywood amid the fallout from his divorce from Heard.

In another of a few appearances made by Depp at the New Jersey awards, broadcast from the Prudential Center in Newark on Sunday, he said: "VMAs let's get back to the f****** music, shall we?"

Depp, who has won five MTV Movie Awards, sued Heard in February 2019 over her December 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post in which he said she labelled him a domestic abuser even though the article did not name him.

She countersued him in August 2020, with their defamation trial in Virginia ending with Depp being awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages from Heard.

The punitive damages were later lowered to $350,000 due to a limit imposed by Virginia state law.