Matt Schlapp Hires Johnny Depp's Attorney
Conservative icon Matt Schlapp has hired a prominent attorney from Johnny Depp's legal team to help him defend his defamation suit in Virginia, which means that a PR team referral could be next.
Last week, the legal team for embroiled conservative figurehead Matt Schlapp filed six documents with a civil court in Alexandria, Virginia, where Schlapp is currently facing a lawsuit for $10 million, alleging that he defamed his accuser by denying the former male staffers accusations. Schlapp, who is a right-wing lobbyist and contributor to Fox News with strong ties to the Trump administration, is now fighting back by demanding that the Court publicly “out” the name of his accuser.
The former staffer — who has been shielded thus far in media reports at the request of the victim after cited concerns for personal and professional retaliation — describes being sexually assaulted by Schlapp, while trapped in the car with him. The former staffer claims the incident occurred the night of Oct. 19, when Schlapp, chair of the American Conservative Union and lead organizer for the influential Conservative Political Action Conference, “groped” and “fondled” the staffer’s groin in a car against his will after buying him drinks at two different bars.
In the media, the staffer has continued to explain his work environment by describing how Schlapp, who had traveled to Georgia for a Walker campaign event on the night of the alleged assault, inappropriately and repeatedly intruded into his personal space at the bars they visited that night. The staffer also noted the disproportionate “power dynamic” that he had with the very influential conservative icon.
This latest request to unmask his accuser is the first official response that Matt Schlapp and his attorneys have made in the $9.4 million sexual battery, defamation, and conspiracy complaint against Schlapp and his wife, conservative commentator and former White House communications strategist Mercedes Schlapp.
The defense is launching an “it was the accuser’s fault” tactic to defend the suit and saying that “any alleged injuries” were not caused by the Schlapps, “but instead were caused by Plaintiff's own negligence, conduct, actions, or inactions, or were the result of other alternative causes, or a combination thereof.” This is not necessarily the most interesting aspect of the latest legal filing by the Schlapps.
What stands out is that we now know that Schlapp’s legal team is being headed by lead attorney Benjamin Chew, who was an integral part of Johnny Depp’s recent defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard last year in the same jurisdiction. The jury verdict, which heavily favored the claims presented by Mr. Depp, was a testament to the skill of Depp’s legal team, including his cut-throat Public Relations campaign employed by the firm of Hiltzik Strategies.
Hiltzik was founded by Matthew Hiltzik, an attorney and former director of corporate communications for Harvey Weinstein at Miramax. The Hiltzik firm is a powerful player in the entertainment industry, and has helped to manage PR crises for clients like Alec Baldwin, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and Brad Pitt. But Depp’s situation provided for a merge of the political and entertainment PR worlds when Carolina Hurley, who was a special assistant to former President Trump, took the lead on handling Johnny Depp’s PR.
Hurley, who came to Hiltzik with a strong recommendation from Ivanka Trump, was responsible for trial updates to reporters covering the lawsuit, and distributed press releases about Depp’s forthcoming album with English guitarist Jeff Beck. Hurley had worked hard on Ivanka’s image during her time in the Trump White House by promoting Ivanka Trump’s projects and branding efforts.
During the Depp defamation trial, social media erupted daily with hashtags of support for both Depp and Heard. It was my experience, at the time, that Johnny Depp’s narrative seemed to dominate social media with an overwhelming number of tweets “from fans” who claimed to support him. While it is possible that all of this social media traction was completely organic, I am personally skeptical that Hiltzik was not heavily involved in creating a massive online defense system for Depp, who was also being tried in the court of public opinion.
At this point, we have no direct confirmation that the Schlapps have hired Hiltzik and are working with Carolina Hurley from that PR firm. But given the personal and political connections of all of the players, and the fact that the Schlapps have hired Depp’s attorney to take the lead on their case, it is not a stretch to say that Hiltzik may eventually jump in to assist the Schlapps in the same way they have assisted close associates of the Schlapps in the past. This is something I will be paying close attention to as the case proceeds.
Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter and hosts the live SHERO podcast on Callin. She is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
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