TMZ files for protection for ex-employee in Johnny Depp lawsuit | Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against. Amber Heard

In the papers, TMZ says the company wants to protect the source who gave the site a video of Depp yelling at ex-Amber Heard and slamming kitchen cabinets. These images were previously used in Depp v. Heard. The cast indicated they would call a former TMZ employee on Wednesday as a witness. The attorneys did not say what they wanted to know about Morgan Tremaine.

A lawyer accused Deep Heard of leaking the same video to TMZ earlier in the process, suggesting that the site paid her for it. Heard denied it.

In the motion, TMZ states that the identity of the issuer is protected by the law of Virginia, the state in which the lawsuit is instituted. The site also says Tremaine’s testimony is not relevant to whether Heard was involved in defamation, the issue in which the case is between the former spouses. “TMZ has promised the source that it will maintain its confidentiality and will not reveal their names or any other information about them,” TMZ’s lawyers said. “TMZ makes such promises of confidentiality from time to time so that it can release information in the public interest, and we rely on journalist privilege to protect the identities of confidential sources to do so.”