Amber Heard and Johnny Depp got mixed results in the last legal hearing of over $ 50 million for defamation suit and counter-suit
At the most recent legal hearing in Virginia, between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, Fairfax County Judge Bruce D. White blocked Depp’s attempt to throw Heard’s case out of court against a new law.
Heard was allowed to advance in his $ 100 million counterclaim against the 57-year-old actor after his lawyer Adam Waldman last year called his allegations of domestic violence “false” and a “sexual violence hoax.” legal documents published in the Hollywood Reporter.
The Kentucky-born actor tried to use a new anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) law passed in the state last year to dump Heard’s suit.
New details: At the most recent legal hearing in Virginia between 34-year-old Amber Heard and 57-year-old Johnny Depp, Fairfax County Judge Bruce D. White blocked Depp’s attempt to throw the case out of court, against the background of a new law
Depp and his team were believed to have initially filed a lawsuit in Virginia for an opinion published by the Washington Post that they wrote because of their lack of a law (which has since been implemented) at the time.
But the judge overturned the legal move that the 34-year-old Aquaman star did, citing the Virginia Computer Crimes Act, claiming that Depp and his team orchestrated a bot attack on her via social media (to get her out of Aquaman), citing a lack of evidence.
“The plea does not prove that the accounts on social networks communicated obscene language, suggested obscene acts or threatened illegal or immoral acts,” the judge said. “Rather, it appears that Mr Depp sent these statements, privately, to two of his friends, and Mrs Heard did not claim that Mr Depp intended her to see them.”
The Austin, Texas-born beauty contradicted Waldman’s reaction to his accusations against the actor, known for his role as Jack Sparrow in the series Pirates of the Caribbean.
Counterpoint: Judge dismissed Heard’s legal move citing Virginia Computer Crimes Act, claiming Depp and his team orchestrated a bot attack on her via social media
Individualist: Depp was seen in a bold ensemble last year in London
Depp rejected his claims against anti-SLAPP immunity, the judge said, noting public concern and that actor Edward Scissorhands “could have made these statements with real or constructive knowledge or reckless disregard for being false.”
The judge added that Depp’s comments and Waldman’s “fake” remark imply that Ms. Heard lied and lied to herself when she appeared in court in 2016 to obtain a temporary restraining order against Mr. Depp and “involves the fact that he lied about being a victim of domestic violence.
“In light of the #MeToo Movement and the current social climate, false support for abuse would certainly be hurt” [Heard’s] reputation in the common esteem of mankind ‘, the judge wrote in his judgment. “The Court therefore finds that the statements contain the ‘sting’ required for an actionable defamation claim.”
Doomed: Heard and Depp broke up in January 2016 in LA, months before their split
The judge concluded that Waldman’s remarks did not fall within the protected view, because “whether Mr Depp abused Mrs Heard is a fact which can be proved to be true or false”.
In November, a British judge ruled against Depp’s lawsuit against an English publication for calling him “his wife”, citing allegations that Heard had made – which had a negative impact on the actor’s career – were “substantially true”.
Depp was removed from Fantastic Beasts 3 by Warner Bros. in November, while he played Gellert Grindelwald in the JK Rowling series.
Depp’s case is set to go to trial on May 3, while Heard’s trial will be brought to court later this year.