Johnny Depp is now awaiting a decision on his appeal to the British Court of Appeal after initially losing his libel case against the Rupert Murdoch-owned British newspaper, The Sun. The former Fantastic Beasts star had filed the suit after the tabloid repeated claims by Depp’s ex-wife, Aquaman star Amber Heard, that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor was physically abusive towards her during their tumultuous, short-lived marriage.
Back in 2018, The Sun (part of News Group Newspapers, a division of Murdoch’s News Corp) ran a headline critical about Depp’s hiring for the then-new Fantastic Beasts sequel, “Gone Potty: How Can J.K. Rowling Be ‘Genuinely Happy’ Casting Wife Beater Johnny Depp in the New Fantastic Beasts Film?” After listening to both sides tell their side of the various alleged instances of abuse during Depp and Heard’s marriage, Judge Andrew Nicol ruled that the allegations were “substantially true” and that The Sun did not defame Depp.
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A key to Depp’s appeal was his recent allegation, which Heard’s lawyer partially confirmed, that Heard has not actually donated the $7 million that she received from Depp in their divorce settlement to the L.A.’s Children Hospital Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union as Heard had claimed at the time.
Depp’s attorney claims that Heard made a “calculated and manipulative lie” and that her omission of the truth had “tipped the scales from the very beginning.”
In other words, Nicol’s decision on the case really came down to who he believed, Depp or Heard, as their stories were often diametrically opposed to each other. In the end, Nicol found Heard more believable than Depp, in part due to Depp’s confessions during testimony about his problems with drugs and alcohol. However, Nicol also did specifically note that Heard donating the money was a part of his thought process in determining that she was a more reliable source of information, as part of Depp’s lawyers’ arguments were that Heard only married Depp for money. So if they made that claim and she gave away all of the money he paid her in the divorce, then that would make an argument that she was in it for the money look unreasonable.
Lord Justice Underhill of the UK Court of Appeal noted that it would be a while before we learn their ruling, stating, “We are not going to reach an immediate decision today but we will make it very shortly and it will be handed down in writing.”
Depp is also suing Heard in Virginia for libel over a piece she wrote for the Washington Post also alleging that Depp abused her. That long-delayed case will probably not be heard until 2022.
Source: Deadline
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