Hogwarts Professor

As you may have heard, the A-list celebrity trial of the divorced Jonny Depp and Amber Heard has entered the defense stage. For several weeks, the Depp attorneys have been making their $50 million defamation case against his ex-wife. Heard has counter-sued for $100 million. She took the stand today and told horror stories of the mental, emotional, and physical abuse she suffered from the supposedly drug and booze addled film star during their relationship.

And, of course, J. K. Rowling came up. It wasn’t, though, about what you might expect, namely, how Depp lost the role of Grindelwald after a London court threw out his case against Heard for libel and how Rowling had previously defended keeping him on as the Fantastic Beasts film franchise villain despite Heard’s claims against him. It was the Amphitrite yacht, originally the Vayoliroya, that she testified Depp had sold to Rowling and Heard’s experience with Depp and his two children on their farewell sailing to the Bahamas.

The Daily Mail, a venue perfectly fits for updates from this trial, reported her testimony about what she claims was a nightmare voyage that she and Depp’s daughter escaped by helicopter after they made port. For more about the yacht and how Heard almost certainly if unknowingly perjured herself when she said Rowling bought the yacht from Depp, join me after the jump. [Read more…]

I got an email last month from Leaky Con inviting me to buy tickets to their Orlando event this July. The pictures in this post are all taken from that marketing blast. You’ll note that no one in these fotos is wearing a mask; everyone is shown enjoying the company of others without social distancing or shielding their faces with a screen or face covering.

Which is understandable because the last two and a half years of Leaky Cons have been canceled because of Pandemania and the lock-step conformity of venue owners and event sponsors with risible CDC and WHO recommendations lest they be subject to liability litigation. They don’t have any pictures of Leaky Con attendees partying down with face masks because the events they scheduled in the periods when they were required never happened.

For those considering attendance at this year’s Orlando Leaky Con, please be aware that they are standing by their draconian Covid-hysteric ‘Health and Safety Policy,’ something hidden in the darker recesses of their website:

LEAKYCON ORLANDO 2022 HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY

All those in attendance at LeakyCon Orlando 2022 including, but not limited to, ticketed attendees, special guests, presenters, vendors, press, and staff, will be required to show either proof of full vaccination OR ​​a negative antigen COVID-19 test results from a testing done within 24 hours of entry to the event OR a negative PCR COVID-19 test result from a testing done within 72 hours of each day of entry to the event. Fully vaccinated is defined as at least 14 days after receiving the final vaccine in a one- or two-shot protocol with a vaccine approved by the FDA or WHO (including emergency use authorization).

Attendees will also be required to wear masks at all times during the event, except in designated areas for eating and drinking.

Any additional LeakyCon Orlando 2022 health and safety policies will be announced at a later date ahead of the event in line with the most up-to-date data and public health advice at that time.

This, though, may very well change before the July event. More on that after the jump! [Read more…]