Johnny Depp did not win a trial against the Sun whom he accused of defaming him
Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard have reported physical abuse to each other.
American actor Johnny Depp, described as a violent husband with his ex-wife Amber Heard by The Sun in 2018, lost the libel suit against the British tabloid on Monday, which the judge said wrote something "substantially true."
The 57-year-old star, who exposed his drug excesses and extravagant lifestyle to public scrutiny in this high-stakes trial, may further damage a reputation he sought to clean up.
In the opinion of the London judge Andrew Nicol, "the defendants have shown that what they published, in the sense that their words have as I understand it, was substantially true".
The proceedings, held before the High Court of London, revolved around a headline from April 2018 in which The Sun wondered how British writer J.K. Rowling could take on this "wife beater" in the movie "Fantastic Beasts."
During the three weeks of hearings in July, Depp struggled to prove that he had never hit Heard despite the violent relationship between the couple, married from 2015 to 2017.
The protagonist of "Pirates of the Caribbean" assured that the phrase written by the English newspaper had damaged his image in Hollywood, endangering his career.
Depp was "mentioned on the same level as movie mogul Harvey Weinstein," convicted in March in the United States of sex crimes, the star's lawyer, David Sherborne, claimed. Therefore, he sued the publishing group News Group Newspapers (NGN) and its executive director, Dan Wootton.
Johnny Depp was going to reprise the role of the evil Gellert Grindelwad next year in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", a spinoff from the magical universe of Harry Potter. But this case has cast doubt on his participation in the film.
Marital violence
"Victims of spousal violence should never have to keep silent," reacted a spokesman for The Sun who thanked the judge, as well as the actress for "her courage in testifying in court."
"This verdict is not a surprise," Heard's lawyers said, assuring that he now wants to "obtain justice" in another pending defamation case in the United States.
American actor Johnny Depp, described as a violent husband with his ex-wife Amber Heard by The Sun in 2018, lost the libel suit against the British tabloid on Monday, which the judge said wrote something "substantially true."
The 57-year-old star, who exposed his drug excesses and extravagant lifestyle to public scrutiny in this high-stakes trial, may further damage a reputation he sought to clean up.
Also read: Amber Heard and the awkward revelations of Kate Moss and Elon Musk in Depp's trial
In the opinion of the London judge Andrew Nicol, "the defendants have shown that what they published, in the sense that their words have as I understand it, was substantially true".
The proceedings, held before the High Court of London, revolved around a headline from April 2018 in which The Sun wondered how British writer J.K. Rowling could take on this "wife beater" in the movie "Fantastic Beasts."
During the three weeks of hearings in July, Depp struggled to prove that he had never hit Heard despite the violent relationship between the couple, married from 2015 to 2017.
See also: Johnny Depp - Amber Heard scandal: audios would show that the actress beat him
The protagonist of "Pirates of the Caribbean" assured that the phrase written by the English newspaper had damaged her image in Hollywood, endangering her career.
Depp was "mentioned on the same level as movie mogul Harvey Weinstein," convicted in March in the United States of sex crimes, the star's lawyer, David Sherborne, claimed. Therefore, he sued the publishing group News Group Newspapers (NGN) and its executive director, Dan Wootton.
Johnny Depp was going to reprise the role of the evil Gellert Grindelwad next year in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", a spinoff from the magical universe of Harry Potter. But this case has cast doubt on his participation in the film.
Marital violence
"Victims of spousal violence should never have to keep silent," reacted a spokesman for The Sun who thanked the judge, as well as the actress for "her courage in testifying in court."
"This verdict is not a surprise," Heard's lawyers said, assuring that he now wants to "obtain justice" in another pending defamation case in the United States.
NGN based its defense on 14 alleged cases of Depp's abuse of Heard, which it detailed in great detail during the process and which seemed to convince the judge. "I have reached these conclusions after having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the defendants relied, as well as the general considerations presented by the plaintiff," Nicol wrote.
The case, called "the largest libel trial of the 21st century in England", exposed the dirtiest rags of the tumultuous marriage between Depp and Heard in the sun.
The court heard lurid stories of drug abuse, feces in the marriage bed, suspicions of infidelity and a severed finger with a bottle during a violent fight.
Acknowledging abusing drugs and alcohol, the actor said that in his years of marriage to Heard he used so much that he was "in no condition" to hurt the 34-year-old model and movie star. And that he had never laid his hand on a woman, a claim supported by the written testimonies of his ex-partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder.
Depp met the actress from "The Danish Girl" and "Aquaman" on the set of "Diario de un seductor" ("The Rum Diaries" in Spain) in 2011 and they were married in February 2015 in Los Angeles. They were divorced two years later. The actress then spoke of "years" of "physical and psychological" violence, accusations that Depp vehemently denied.
During the trial in London, Depp's lawyer made an effort to present the interpreter as the true violent of the couple. And he accused her of being a "compulsive liar" who had fabricated a case against the actor for years to boost his career.
