Johnny Depp Loses Libel Case Against British Tabloid

A judge has ruled against Johnny Depp in High Court.

On Monday, Nov. 2, a judge dismissed the Oscar nominee’s claim against News Group Newspapers. Back in 2018, Depp sued The Sun over an article in which he was labeled a “wife beater” in reference to his marriage to Amber Heard. Depp has denied the claim. In the ruling on Monday, the judge stated, “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.”

In response to the ruling, Depp’s legal team has confirmed that they plan to appeal the decision.

“This decision is as perverse as it is bewildering,” attorney Jenny Afia said in a statement. “Most troubling is the Judge’s reliance on the testimony of Amber Heard, and corresponding disregard of the mountain of counter-evidence from police officers, medical practitioners, her own former assistant, other unchallenged witnesses and an array of documentary evidence which completely undermined the allegations, point by point.”