Johnny Depp has lost his libel case against the Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers.
In his ruling Justice Andrew Nicol said that Deep-who had sued the publisher News Group Newspapers and the Sun’s executive editor Dan Wootton-has “not succeeded in his action for libel.” The suit was centred on an article from 2018 in which it was alleged that Depp had physically assaulted Amber Heard by the Associated Press. The two were married from 2015 to 2017.
He added, “Although he has proved the necessary elements of his cause of action in libel, the defendants have shown that what they published in the meaning which is true.” and continued,
’” I have reached these conclusions having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the defendants rely as well as the overarching considerations which the claimant submitted I should take into account. I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard.”
Amber Heard has also reacted to the verdict with her US counsel, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft in a statement saying, “For those of us present for the London High Court trial, this decision and Judgement are not a surprise.
Very soon, we will be presenting even more voluminous evidence in the US. We are committed to obtaining justice for Amber Heard in the US court and defending Ms Heard’s Right to Free Speech.”
A spokesperson for the Sun also said, “The Sun has stood up and campaigned for the victims of domestic abuse for over 20 years. Domestic abuse victims must never be silenced and we thank the judge for his careful consideration and thank Amber Heard for her courage in giving evidence to the court.”
It looks like we will be hearing a lot about Johnny Deep in terms of domestic violence.
