LOS ANGELES — Emily D. Baker is exasperated. In the penultimate week of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's defamation trial, Baker at times rises from her seat in her home studio or fans herself with a small blue book of the federal rules of evidence as she delivers a steaming critique of Heard's attorney Elaine Bredehoft.
"This is preposterous, Elaine! You don't do speaking objections," Baker, 44, seethes as red lights flash to indicate another thousand subscribers have signed up to her channel. A so-called super-chat message flashes across the screen from a viewer who paid $10 to let the audience know she thinks the judge is being too easy on Bredehoft. "This is a mess, and the jury is going to see it's a mess," Baker adds.
It is just another day in the weekslong trial for this former Los Angeles deputy district attorney turned YouTuber whose livestreamed commentary has drawn audiences surpassing that of mainstream outlets like Fox or Entertainment Tonight on the platform. As Johnny Depp testified at one point Wednesday morning, Baker had about 128,000 live viewers, compared with 72,000 for LiveNOW from Fox and 86,000 for ET.
