Amber Heard's PR rep David Shane accused of sexual harassment: Reports

Hollywood stars Amber Heard and Johnny Depp are currently involved in a legal battle, with the trial taking place in Fairfax, Virginia. The case involves the Pirates Of The Caribbean star pursuing a $50 million defamation suit against the Aquaman star over an op-ed she penned in 2018 claiming that she was a domestic abuse survivor. Heard's ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in his lawsuit claimed that the article was defamatory and had a severe negative impact on his career. 

Heard, on the other hand, has countersued Depp seeking $100 million. The hearing began on 11 April 2022, in the attendance of the two Hollywood stars, and recently entered its fifth week. While the trial is attracting a lot of attention, it was recently reported that Heard's new PR rep was accused of sexual harassment.

Amber Heard's new PR gets into trouble amid trial 

According to Daily Mail, it was revealed that David Shane, who was hired by Amber Heard to take pictures of Johnny Depp that could prove him as an alcohol-bingeing abuser, was reportedly accused of sexual harassment. The insiders further told the newspaper that his alleged misconduct was quite common due to which he was nicknamed 'Hurricane Shane' and 'the walking #MeToo case of the PR world.' Shane served as vice president of communications at Hewlett-Packard from 2008 to 2010 and even at Juniper from 2010 to 2012. It was then mentioned how the HR departments of both the companies investigated him for sexual harassment. However, he later denied all the allegations made against him.

A few colleagues of David Shane also claimed that Shane allegedly used company funds to hire women and 'create a club feel.' Adding to it, they stated, "They were dressed nicely, but provocatively. There were several Australians, a couple of Brits. They were working the room for sure", as per the Daily Mail report. 

Moreover, it was also mentioned how Shane was allegedly accused of sexual harassment by his team members. "He would cozy up to, and try to separate from the pack, a very young, vulnerable, member of the external PR firm," Shane's former colleague was quoted by the media outlet as saying.

In an interview with the newspaper, a former model Hollie Doker claimed that David Shane tried to force her to give oral sex after she met him through a dating app. "He started getting really aggressive, like come to my bedroom, let’s have sex.” I’m like “no”. I even lied to him and told him I was on my period because I just felt so uncomfortable. He said I took you on these amazing dates to these really great restaurants. At that point he started getting super aggressive and he pushed my head down, towards that [his crotch]. I told him no and I got up. He got angry and was like “I’ll call you a f***ing Uber," Doker said.

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for the dating app, Raya issued a statement that read, "In the event such a report is determined to be reasonably credible, we take action to remove the offending member from our community."

On the other hand, Shane’s lawyer, Rebecca Kaufman, stated that he "adamantly denies Hollie Doker’s allegation, which dramatically conflicts with Ms Doker’s original account that she posted over three years ago."

Stating further, she affirmed how easy it was to get distracted by anonymous, false accusations while stating that the focus should be on the merits of the defamation case pending in Fairfax County, Virginia and the relevant facts presented at trial. 

(Image: AP)