Sir Paul McCartney played a video of Johnny Depp accompanying him on guitar during a recent concert in Seattle amid the actor’s ongoing defamation trial against Amber Heard.

The former Beatle and Depp are reportedly close friends as well as longtime collaborators – Depp has starred in several of McCartney’s music videos.

In footage shared on Instagram on Tuesday (3 May) by philanthropist and former model Jill Vedder, McCartney is seen performing his song “My Valentine” in front of a black-and-white video of Depp playing the guitar and reciting the song’s lyrics in sign language.

The clip is taken from the original music video for the song, which also features Natalie Portman, and has been used in McCartney’s concerts for almost a decade, Joe.co.uk reports. The Independent has contacted representatives for McCartney for comment.

Vedder captioned the video: “Might be controversial to post this video with JD. Don’t care. Know him only to be a gentleman... And while I support women and the ‘me too’ movement I also know some women who have destroyed the lives of innocent & good men... @johnnydepp … PS verbal abuse is not cool either.. watch your tongue.”

The trial between Depp and his ex-wife Heard began on 11 April in Fairfax, Virginia following his lawsuit in March 2019.

Depp is arguing that she defamed him in a December 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.

Heard has filed a $100m counterclaim against Depp for nuisance and immunity from his allegations.