Johnny Depp loses the trial against 'the Sun' for calling him an abuser
The judge has rejected the lawsuit filed by the actor and has argued that what was written in the article was "substantially true."
American actor Johnny Depp has lost his lawsuit for libel against the group that owns the British tabloid The Sun, the London High Court announced on Monday.
The 57-year-old Hollywood star filed a complaint against News Group Newspaper (NGN) - owner of the aforementioned newspaper - and against its executive director, Dan Wootton, for an article published in 2018 in which that outlet described him as "abusive of wives ", in connection with his marriage to actress Amber Heard (34).
In his verdict, the judge rejected Depp's claim, arguing that NGN had shown that what was written in the article was "substantially true."
In the controversial article, the tabloid alluded to the "overwhelming evidence" about alleged assaults committed by the actor against his ex, accusations that Depp has always strongly denied.
When communicating his opinion, the judge explained that although the interpreter "has proven the necessary elements of his case in this libel case," the defendants -NGN and Wootton- have shown that what they published was "substantially true".
"I have reached these conclusions after having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the defendants relied, as well as the global considerations that the plaintiff presented," said the magistrate.
Such was the media uproar generated around this case, which lasted three weeks last July, that the British press called it the "largest judicial process for libel of the 21st century", a process that at the same time generated a lot of expectation in the United States .
In a statement released by Heard's US attorney, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, she indicated that "this decision and ruling are not a surprise."
"Very soon we will present even more voluminous evidence in the US", the lawyer also advanced, adding that the actress' legal team is "committed to obtaining justice for Amber Heard in the United States courts and to defend Heard's right to freedom of speech ".
