At some point, last year, I simply did not want to cover Johnny Depp’s mess any longer. It felt, to me, like he was still seeking to emotionally and financially abuse Amber Heard years after their divorce, years after she left him for abusing her. Their divorce was completed in 2015. Then he sued The Sun (in Britain) for libel, because they published articles in which they called him a “wife beater.” He also sued Amber for defamation in federal court in Virginia because of an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post where she simply called herself a survivor of abuse (she didn’t name names). All of this has had a Streisand Effect, drawing more attention to just how abusive and toxic the Heard-Depp marriage was, years after the fact. Anyway, the libel trial against the Sun happened a few months ago and now the verdict is in. Depp lost.
A UK court has ruled against the actor Johnny Depp in his explosive libel case with The Sun, saying that the tabloid was justified in its use of the phrase “wife beater” in a 2018 article about his relationship with ex-wife Amber Heard.
The judge, Justice Andrew Nicol, decreed that the allegation was “substantially true” in today’s verdict. The 129-page court document concludes plainly that “Mr Depp did assault Ms Heard” in reference to the multiple allegations of domestic violence that were presented during the trial, declaring that the “great majority” had been proved.
The verdict also notes that it does not accept the characterization of Heard as a “gold-digger”. “She was, according to this scenario, nothing more than a gold-digger,” Justice Nicol wrote in his ruling. “I do not accept this characterization of Ms. Heard,” he added, pointing out she had claimed to have given all of her $7 million divorce settlement to charity. “Her donation is hardly the act one would expect of a gold-digger,” the judge said.
“The Claimant has not succeeded in his action for libel. 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 I have held the words to bear was substantially true,” the judge’s summation reads.
The 16-day trial in July saw Depp and Heard trade accusations over their conduct during their short-lived marriage. Here’s a recap. Heard’s allegations, which included 14 instances of abuse, formed the basis for The Sun parent company News Group Newspapers’ defense of its usage of the phrase “wife beater”. Depp in turn described Heard’s accusations as “sick” and a “hoax” and claimed the actress was the aggressor in their relationship.
Heard and Depp are now set for a second legal showdown in the States. Depp is suing Heard for $50M in Virginia over a Washington Post column she wrote about domestic violence. The actor has been ordered to sit for deposition next month by Fairfax County VA Circuit Court Chief Judge Bruce White.
Responding to today’s verdict, Heard’s U.S. lawyer Elaine Charlson Bredehoft told AP the outcome of the UK trial was “not a surprise”, adding that “very soon, we will be presenting even more voluminous evidence in the U.S.”
[From Deadline & The NY Times]
Well, that did not go as he planned. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised – considering all of the insane hoopla and he-said/she-said of the case, I thought it would all end in a wash, some vague ruling about how dare anyong question a famous movie star like Johnny Depp. But I guess not. I wonder if Heard will get to use this verdict as part of her defense in the American defamation case? That, to me, always seemed like the one Heard would win – she was very careful in that op-ed and she didn’t name him at all. He was the one who raised his hand and said “she’s talking about me!”
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
Wife beater is pretty accurate to me.
Not surprised really. Defamation lawsuits are notoriously hard to win.
Not in the UK though.
*Easier* in comparison to the US but still somewhat difficult and costly (but I guess that’s not an issue to an actor like Depp)
Not really. In this case the Sun relied on a defence of truth to the claim. The burden of proof was on the Sun to demonstrate that the story was substantially accurate on the balance of probabilities. And they achieved that.
So, it would have really not somewhat difficult to win this case for Depp, if there really was nothing to the allegations.
Sorry, double post
Sorry, double post
By suing, he’s confirmed he is a wife beater. Though that won’t stop JK Rowling from defending him.
Agree – a defence of justification (that it was true) means that The Sun had to prove their case up to the standard of civil (not criminal) liability. I have defended a number of defamation cases and would always try and find a technical defence before justification as it flips the burden of proof.
This is why celebs like Tom Cruise constantly sue, then quietly settle behind the scene with barely a peep, because they know they wouldn’t win if it went to court. Remember when Cruise sued over the headline he “abandoned” his daughter, vowing to take it all the way? Yeah, whatever happened with that (answer: he quietly settled for a nominal amount, before they could take his deposition and subpoena his records).
I’m so glad that he lost the lawsuit. Maybe now Hollywood will stop casting him in roles. I haven’t gone to seen a movie that he’s in in years.
Please let this be the start of a week of terrible men finally getting what they deserve. Please?
@insomniac I am not a religious woman- but I am praying for that outcome. 🙏🏻
I was just thinking that 😉
I am not a religious woman either, but Amen to that!
Depp and Pitt and William and Trump. It could make a catchy little tune:)
Insomniac, ditto! Do I dare take this as a sign that horrific people will finally start being held accountable for their actions? I’m afraid to hope but I’ve already volunteered, donated, and voted, so hope and prayers are all I have left!
His defense was- yes I was intoxicated and screaming and then I blacked out and I don’t recall. But I am a “southern gentleman” and would never his a woman. Therefore I am obviously innocent.
The fact that he thought that was a winning argument makes me question his competency.
Also I’m thrilled. He has put that poor woman through so much crap.
Also, “I was so high I don’t remember any details off that day but that didn’t happen”.
To me, this was the one bright spot in an otherwise shitty morning (and potentially terrifying week). I honestly thought this would end up as yet another win for the rich white man. Very happy to be proved wrong.
So I just went on Twitter to tweet out this story, and as I was doing so I saw “AmberHeardIsaLiar” was trending. People are idiots. Team Amber
So happy for Amber. She deserves this win.
I’m happy for her. Here’s to her winning her suit in the US. Steps in the right direction, ladies.
I think what The Sun said was categorically true and it makes sense he lost the lawsuit. That said, I’m not exactly “yay Amber!” either. The behavior she showed as the aggressor in evidence was so incredibly disturbing to me, and I absolutely believe they were both toxic and abusive. Honestly, I do think she was deceitful about some of the things she initially accused him off, and I say this as someone who wholeheartedly supported her from day one. There are no winners or taking sides in this one for me.
I read some of the DM’s summaries of each of the 16~ incidents, and about what he also accused her of. It seemed like she began to escalate later into the relationship. I tend to think that he started abusing her and after the fifth, sixth, seventh time, she didn’t know what else to do but reciprocate some of his behavior. I think that tends to be a somewhat common response among people who are abused (not everyone certainly, but it’s not abnormal either). I hope she got a lot of therapy.
M, that tracks with my thoughts as well.
Many abuse victims don’t sit there and take it, and when they fight back the abuser escalates.
It’s not just about who hits who, it’s about the power dynamics at play. And Depp still holds the social and financial capital at this point.
And they fight back they’re accused of being equally abusive.
Apparently only men are entitled to the privilege of self-defense.
@Who ARE These People? And you can see, in that exact attitude, the reason why women who kill their domestic abusers out of self-defense (or otherwise), are sentenced to longer prison sentences than convicted domestic abusers. Women who fight back are seen as having violated some sacrosanct, impossible to meet set of standards for who gets to be a credible victim. If you’ve done anything except lie there and take the abuse, your credibility is instantly up for question. But if you don’t fight back, people sneer at you for “taking” the abuse and not fighting back. There is no way to win.
@Who ARE these people? Agreed. And this is the foundation of an abusive system where the victims are punished as much if not more than the abusers, this whole “two sides” mentality that is an infection rooted in part in misogyny. On a somewhat related note, I went to an ultra-religious military-style boarding school, and was chastised and punished equally alongside the two girls who beat me up, just for putting up my hands to protect my face. That’s by no means the end of abusive situations and victim-blaming I have experienced, but point is, it’s all part of the same evil root.
Was it evidence or was it his word, and his bodyguards words, and his household staff’s words, and his sleazy hanger-on’s words against hers?
She had recorded evidence where he admits to head butting her. After repeatedly denying it, he was presented in court with his recording admitting it, and was forced to admit that he actually did do it.
While I think they were both pretty toxic and terrible towards the end of the marriage, there was enough evidence presented that Amber actually did try to sober him up during the course of their relationship. After years of back and forth abuse, the girl probably had had it, and started to fight back. They’re both inexcusable at the end of the day, but for him to claim he NEVER hit her was just stupid when she apparently had a ton of evidence. He should have just stayed quiet and this would have all died down for him, talk about bad legal advice- the idiot is getting fleeced in legal fees for sure!
I’m referring to recorded evidence of her saying some things in the role of the aggressor and am trying to view this objectively, without being “Team” anyone. I believe women, I believe victims, and I believe Johnny was right to lose this case. I also think there’s some nuance in this particular situation and I don’t think that’s wrong to talk about.
His staff are just the worst humans. You have a PA who literally begged her by text to take Johnny back. Telling her that Johnny killing himself with remorse for what he did to her on the plane. Then in court he turns and says he was only placating her and that Johnny didn’t touch her. So why would Johnny need his PA to beg his wife to take him back?
There’s the nurse who one day noted in her medical memos that Amber had a bleeding lip and then in court says Amber often had dry lips. The housekeeper who says she’s been with him 30 years and never seen him lose his temper when there’s record of his temper going back 30 years.
The multiple staffers who deny she had a bruise in the week of her Restraining Order but the meta data of all the pics were from the day of the assault. Some taken even before Depp left the building. The staffer in Australia who denied she had any injury even though theres tape of them discussing her cuts (and dismissing them as self inflicted).
Amber is toxic but my God I feel sorry for her. She was living in a world fully designed to protect her husband. Reminded me of Charles and Diana
It’s not unusual for a battered woman to begin to fight back. As far as I’m concerned, Amber doesn’t need to be a ‘perfect victim’ who just sat there and took it in order for her story to be believed. It’s very hard to behave admirably and calmly when you believe your life is in danger, I have to say. As detritus said, the power dynamic at play in the relationship always favored Depp and still does. I just hope Amber is able to move on. All of these lawsuits are further attempts to control and abuse her.
I think that as with relationships like this, toxic people will often find each other. However in this case JD appears to have been the original aggressor. AH is by no means innocent but I think this is more a case of initially 70/30 and not 50/50 cray. They both appear to have impulse and regulation issues.
This looks like your typical Narc/ aggressive codependent tussle. I am guessing that JD has never been challenged by a woman in this way before. 10 years ago, at the height of his career he would have gotten away with it, but as his celebrity has waned so also has his credibility. He still has cult like status, but Amber appears to be much smarter in getting ahead of this.
Contrary to what the twitter courts believe, I think he tried to use the courts to harass her and to shut her up, but Amber was not having it.
On a side note I am happy that Vanessa got married in the middle of all this, looks happier than ever and is booking more work than ever. It’s interesting that she is now flourishing now that the kids are grown and Johnny has been occupied elsewhere……
Let’s also not forget–prolonged, sustained abuse changes a person too. Putting someone in a highly stressful environment like that, for an extended period of time, can and will create a person who doesn’t behave like a “perfect victim” should. Failing to account for this, or worse, punishing someone for not behaving perfectly rationally in circumstances like these, is failing the victims of such abuse.
Domestic abuse victims behave aggressively codependent because they’re in a situation with someone who has dismantled their self-esteem, and their sense of self, systematically over time. Abusers target people like that precisely because they’re vulnerable to manipulation, and will allow abusers to abuse without recourse. They tear them down and isolate them, and make them think that they’re worthless outside of this relationship. This is the context for that aggressive codependence–it’s a victim behaving as a victim in this situation would.
Johnny Depp is such a dummy. He never should have brought either of these lawsuits.
We could be talking about his next movie (not that I’m interested) but he wants to drag this into the next decade.
Hollywood forgives bad men so easily but this dude would rather get Heard back than move on.
Wife beater is accurate. It just it. Idc how they got tangled up. Dude should be in rehab/long term therapy to deal with how good marriage devolved into marriage. But it’s clear he hit her and she deserved it or she started it isn’t a defense even if you believe she did.
He’s a gullible fool. Remember the Rolling Stone article that mentioned that he was being adviced by one of the Russia-connected Trump lawyers? His other US lawyer was kicked off the case by the judge last month. He was spending his days tweeting about the case as if twitter is a court room. His financial advisors allegedly swindled him of millions. So basically Johnny chooses hacks. He can’t be very smart
I agree completely. He never should have brought this to court.
The audio tapes of Amber were pretty damning to her. It does NOT, in any way, excuse him for anything that he’d done, but the tapes certainly did alter people’s perception of the relationship.
He could have left it at that. And he should have left it at that.
She was only 22 when they started being in a relationship which is another major red flag. He was 45 at the time. Usually men who date women that young do that because they can ‘control’ them easier. I’m really not surprised this relationship was abusive.
He was so stupid to go ahead with this trial, but honestly the whole thing was so bizarre it felt like they both lost. Because of this trial we got confirmation that they both seemed to abuse each other, even to the point of amber shitting in his bed?? These people are both toxic, and both seem like domestic abusers honestly. Team nobody.
The judgment found that the bowel movement in the bed probably came from one of the dogs i.e. that Johnny claiming it was Amber was more of his abuse.
The VA case is actually in state court – Fairfax county circuit.
This is a fantastic outcome, partly because it’s true, he is, and for once the victim of a rich white man, but also given how much effort he and his people have put into getting the false narrative about her out there I am so pleased that this is in full view. Now, of course his defenders won’t hear a word against him but in the general court of public opinion hopefully it will help.
I’m not surprised at the outcome. I was following the press coverage closely and the evidence was overwhelmingly against him. He has lived in his Hollywood bubble of toxic masculinity for so many decades but he didn’t notice that the world around him has shifted, if ever so infinitesimally, in favor of believing the victims of domestic abuse.
I am glad to know that he lost the lawsuit.
But I hope this won’t affect Meghan’s lawsuit.
Meghan’s case is to do with copyright and privacy, his was a libel suit. Meghan’s case is more clearcut, she never gave the MoS the right to print her letter. For Johnny, the judge felt that the civil standard for proving domestic abuse was met so it couldn’t be libel. For Meghan to lose her case, the judge will have to agree that there was public interest in printing the letter and he’ll also have to agree with the bs reasons the MoS gave to print the letters. The only way I see Meghan losing is if the judge is still salty that he lost a similar case years ago when representing the same defendant.
This is correct. The Sun is only fighting this case to cross examine her or her friends and generate headlines. They know they can’t win. Letter was never in the public domain and theres no public interest argument.
After that trial they are both pretty unlikable, IMO. I hope to never hear much of either of them
Really? I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more from Amber. I’m very happy with this outcome. He can go find himself a hole.
I’m absolutely thrilled that Depp lost, but also profoundly weary and disappointed by the relentless coverage of Amber Heard as a ‘bad woman’. I was reflecting on feminism earlier, and concluded that so little has truly changed from the 50s/60s. Women still attack other women because the subject of abuse is a famous film star. Women go out of their way to vilify and toxify another women’s reputation. Check the DM comments if you can stomach it. Thousands of people still ignore or deny the reality of toxic masculinity. A case in point: there was an article in the Guardian talking about the diminution of women’s sexual pleasure and the biological reality of the clitoris. There are thousands of studies on the penis, which is a major component of the anatomy unit for medical students, but only something like 27 for the clitoris, and it is treated like something that is prurient and unseemly – and only exists to assist male sexuality and female fertility.
We’re not winning (and I would argue that intersectionality, which forces us into categories, really doesn’t help).
Depp’s court case was the result of toxic masculinity and male dominance, and given the rise of the far right, these tropes about womenhood will only increase.
What can we do about this? There’s a sisterhood on Celebitchy, and we all support each other: how can WE make a positive change outside this forum?
Vote and run for office. Stay active and involved after this election.
I remember the first gossip comment section I ever saw. It was TMZs coverage of Oksanas tapes against Mel Gibson. That was over ten years ago now but the tone in the comments hasn’t changed. I remember that day because it was my first wakeup call on how terrible people with anonymity can be.
Amber is going to have a tough ride but it will be better than Oksanas. “Outrage marketing” is big these days so I’m sure she’ll keep getting ad jobs. And she wants to work in the indie scene or streaming they’ll have her. I think the big screen is over for her though. The big screen movies tend to be male driven and you can bet that they’ll call boycotts against her movies.
i know she is not a perfect victim, (not that it matters) or a good person (again irrelevant) and i know this is only likely a win for other rich victims like her but it is such a relief honestly to see FOR ONCE an abusive man named for what he is. for him face consequences for what was essentially another form of abuse, he set himself up by doing this, he was just so determined to attack her and continue to harm her and now it’s blown up in his hideous leather face.
i’m happy for her.
i can’t imagine going through this, i would have given up, good for her and i hope this accelerates the ending of that man’s career
Agreed! I don’t think Amber’s an angel by any means, but in this situation she was David and he was Goliath, and it’s gratifying to see a rich male celebrity marshal all his money and power and famous friends to try to punish a woman for making his abuse public—and still lose.
When you play stupid games you win stupid prizes. And now we will have the US case and I hope Amber wipes the floor with his a$$. We all know she has way more evidence of abuse than was made public and his dumb a$$ has now opened the door for all of that to become public knowledge. And none of that would have to happen if he had just shut his mouth and left her alone. But he’s an abusive narcissist who couldn’t help himself.
Spot on! The narcissist needs someone to feed on, so he’ll go on trying even if It ends up to his disadvantage! As you said, he can’t help himself.
I’m not surprised that he lost. The point of the trial was not to determine whether Amber is a good person. The question was, ” Did Johnny abuse Amber?”. I think there was enough evidence that he abused her.
Johnny’s argument seemed to be that Amber was also abusive to him. Even if that’s true, it still doesn’t negate the fact that he abused her. It just means that they’re both awful.
It just means she found herself fighting back.
Thank you
“Johnny’s argument seemed to be that Amber was also abusive to him. Even if that’s true, it still doesn’t negate the fact that he abused her.” This. This is the point that everyone (online and offline) who was so aggressively salivating for a chance to shame women for believing Depp is abusive were missing.
The other weird thing is that there were people acting like her getting violent too was proof they were owed some kind of apology for being told not to dismiss abuse allegations based on the golddigging/promiscuity assumption. Because logic.
But Amber wasn’t on trial here, which is what the Twitter mob fails to understand- this case was about Johnny disputing that he was a wife beater after the sun wrote that he was. He needed to prove that that statement was false and the Sun was being libelous. The judge doesn’t care if Amber cheated or beat him, Johnny has to prove HE didn’t beat HER, and he couldnt because there’s a mountain of evidence that shows he did.
So whether or not Amber beat him isn’t the point here. But it will be in the US case I think. We’ll see where that goes…
I would strongly encourage everyone here to read the Lundy Bancroft book “Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men” especially his section on the abuser profiles.
It has been very disheartening to read how people are still claiming all types of things about survivors of domestic abuse and “both siding” the issue. Seriously read his book, it is eye opening.
I tried to watch Sweeney Todd this morning because it came up on my Hulu recs. Turned it off pretty quickly. I just can’t watch him in films anymore.
Thank Goodness sometimes the little guy (or woman) can still win against the entire structure.
I hope that letting the Sun off the hook will not encourage the DM from becoming bolder and more confident that they will also prevail.
He plans to appeal. He needs to take this as a ‘win’ and the opportunity to work on himself (if possible) vs ‘defeat’ and lay low for a looooong time. Is his ego that big? What exactly is he trying to prove here? Everything that came out was just very ugly.
Good. What he did was despicable, and how he reacted when the truth came out was even more despicable. This is a classic case of a man wanting to make his abuse victim pay for not putting up with his disgusting abuse. And he deserves every last bit of it.
Also, to everyone saying, “She’s just as bad as him.” Uh, no. Fuck off with that bullshit. This is a truly reprehensible thing to say. A victim choosing to fight back against someone who’s attempting to beat them to death is NOT, and NEVER WILL BE, “just as abusive” as the abuser themselves. No. NO NO NO. Anyone who says this should feel ashamed of themselves.
Saying shit like this puts peoples lives at risk. Do people understand that? It makes people feel scared of fighting back against their abuser, because they’re afraid they’ll be penalized for defending themselves, even when fighting back could potentially save them from injury or death. Perpetuating this idea harms people.
Totally agree! Couldn’t have said It better myself!
I think we all realize Vanessa Paradis kept her mouth shut in order to survive.
@A,
You know something, I never thought of it as her fighting back. Mostly, I was looking at from the perspective of women abusers can be just as terrifying as a male abuser. I have a friend who is 6ft 3, built like a mack truck. He was a professional football player. Until I met him, I had no idea that men could be the abused spouse; strictly speaking, it hadn’t even occur to me to take it seriously. His now ex wife was terrifying and would beat the hell out of him, bottles, knives, what ever she could find. Years and years of therapy and anti-depressants and he still has massive panic attacks..it was brutal to watch.
Anyhow, fair points re Amber was fighting back and I hadn’t considered that at all.
@capepopsie: Regarding Vanessa Paradis, I’ve always wondered why she never ‘fought’ to save the marriage to Depp once he took up with Amber. It’s like she saw and got her out and took it. I believe she remarried or maybe with someone else and has kept her silence. I expect she is doing that for the sake of their kids.
I don’t even think the intention was ever to “win”, but to drag Amber into a costly, time consuming and potentially humiliating public trial. He wants to make it so that her name will always be linked with his, and scandal, which might damage her future career prospects, and to diminish her getting the earlier financial settlement.
In other words, he’s still trying to control and punish her years later. Great guy.
This… exactly this… he’s not gonna stop, he has endless amounts of money and millions of adoring trolls at his disposal to use against her.
Im happy to read this. I’m currently being threatened with a defamation lawsuit here in the US. I wrote about my ex on my blog and now he is claiming harassment, threats, identity theft, revenge porn, a whole host of allegations. Luckily I had a great defamation lawyer tell me the C&D is basically blackmail and he has no control over getting me charged with any of those fabricated charges (criminal means the police decide). Anyhow he’s told me that he thinks he can get it dismissed because my cheap dummy of an ex didn’t hire a defamation lawyer and it clearly shows in the letter he sent, but I have to pay a $6000 retainer just to defend myself and I don’t have that. It’s scary to think of the cost involved and I’m hoping he won’t file (he lives in London so he would have to fly to the US for the trial).
Glad to read this outcome because from what I’ve learned the UK is a libel paradise. Depp should have won by all accounts, and he didn’t. The US is much harder to win libel in. Something like 99.9% of the cases brought forth aren’t won. And in Texas we have antiSLAPP so hopefully Celebitchy pays close attention to the upcoming case because I am definitely interested in seeing how it goes. I’m not worried about losing my case, I’m worried about finding the money i need to pay in order to defend myself. $6000 is just to retain, I’m looking at another $10,000 for a trial and a lawyer that charges $450 an hour. As I told my lawyer, defamation is a rich man’s game.
Don’t particularly like either of them – she seems shallow and manipulative and he’s just a massive spendthrift and total eccentric glamourising a dependency lifestyle as artistic – but they’re reporting his poor judgment with this case has ruined / will ruin his career in HW. He looks extremely unwell with all the boozing and other stuff. Strange man. To think he was considered incredibly hot when I was growing up…remember how clean cut he was on 21 Jump St and during the Winona years and around that time….
Was he a wife beater? Yes. 200 pages from a judge who analysed all the evidence says so. That’s all that matters in this case.
People sue for libel in the UK because they often win (see Roman Polanski). It’s actually an attractive place to do it. The fact that he lost speaks volumes.
I don’t care if she slept around, yelled at him, threw things etc etc. People who bring that up are veering into victim blaming. It’s all irrelevant to this case. He’s a wife beater.
Also, Paul Bettany deserves to lose work after those “jokes” came to light. Disgusting.
What a victory! I’m glad for her. I have disliked him about 10 years now. When he left Vanessa for a much younger woman I had his number then. I’m not at all surprised he turned out this way but I’m disappointed for her. She had to live through that. She probably thought she married into a fairytale and he was actually a nightmare.