Johnny Depp lost his request to appeal a defamation decision of the British court that joined Sun a newspaper that called him a “wife beater.” In a ruling Thursday, the Royal Court of Appeal in London ruled against Depp – essentially agreeing that there is sufficient evidence that Pirates of the Caribbean the actor really beat his ex-wife, Amber Heard, as she claimed.
The 57-year-old actor claimed that he did not receive a fair trial in his initial unsuccessful civil case against the newspaper and that he has new evidence, including allegations that Heard lied about donating a $ 7 million divorce settlement. to charities.
The initial court ruling said that Sun the article labeling the actor as an abusive husband was “substantially true” and that there was “overwhelming evidence” that he had frequently attacked his 34-year-old wife.
Heard and Depp settled their divorce out of court, and Depp was never charged, despite Heard detailing how he feared for her life and how Depp once broke a part of his finger and he wrote with blood on the wall during a fight. Depp says Heard was abusive and that his finger was cut off when she threw a bottle of whiskey during a furious confrontation.
The bloody details of Depp and Head’s clearly tumultuous relationship had become tabloid fodder since they broke up in 2016, amid allegations of Depp’s drug attacks and alcohol use, which included frequent beatings and even a situation of hostage in Australia, when he claimed that Depp kept her imprisoned for three days. Depp, in his defense, always claimed that Heard was the attacker and that he frequently hid from her or told her what he wanted to hear to reconcile her, to avoid her anger.
The British court joined the hearing of Heard’s events and ruled that it was fair for the British newspaper to label the actor as a wife’s beater. “We reject Mr Depp’s request for further evidence in support of his proposed appeal and conclude that the appeal has no real prospect of success and that there is no other compelling reason to be heard,” the court ruled on Thursday. “Therefore, we refuse permission to appeal.”
The judges also wrote in their ruling that they did not “believe that the judge would have reached a different conclusion if it had been established before him that Ms. Heard gave a misleading impression of how much of the $ 7 million that he told her that he had donated to charity, in fact he was paid ”.
Heard’s spokesman said guardian that they were satisfied “but not at all surprised” by the court decision. “The evidence presented in the case of the United Kingdom has been overwhelming and indisputable,” the spokesman said. “To reiterate, the initial verdict was that Mr Depp committed domestic violence against Amber on at least 12 occasions and was left in fear of her life.”
Depp’s lawyer, Joelle Rich, told The Daily Beast in a statement that the ruling “further demonstrates that there are clear and objective reasons to seriously question the decision in the British court”. They went on to say that Depp is looking forward to presenting “complete, irrefutable evidence of the truth” in the case of the American slander against Heard “where he will have to provide full disclosure.”
Sun the newspaper, which had the most to lose in the appeal, also expressed its delight at the ruling against Depp. „The Sun I have every confidence that this application for leave to appeal will not be granted and I am pleased with today’s decision. ” Sun he said in a statement. “The case had a full, fair and adequate hearing, and today’s decision justifies the courageous evidence that Amber Heard provided to the court on domestic abuse, despite repeated attempts to undermine it and silence the perpetrator. Sun will continue to stand up and campaign for victims of domestic abuse. ”