Johnny Depp has submitted his request to appeal against a British court for defamation sided with the Sun newspaper that called him “woman beater”. In a decision on Thursday, the Royal Court of Appeal in London ruled against Depp – essentially agreeing that there was sufficient evidence that the pirates of the Caribbean Actor had indeed hit his ex-wife Amber Heard, as she claimed.
The 57-year-old actor alleged that he had not received a fair trial in his original unsuccessful civil suit against the newspaper and that he had new evidence, including allegations that Heard lied about donating her $ 7 million divorce settlement to a charity.
The court’s original ruling said that the Sun The article describing the actor as an abusive husband was “essentially true” and that there was “overwhelming evidence” that he had regularly assaulted his 34-year-old wife.
Heard and Depp settled their divorce out of court and Depp was never criminally charged, despite Heard sharing how she feared for her life and how Depp even once cut part of his finger and wrote blood on the wall in a fight. . Depp says it was Heard who assaulted and that his finger was cut off when she threw a whiskey bottle at him during an angry showdown.
The gory details of Depp’s and Head’s distinctly tumultuous relationship had become tabloid fodder since they split up in 2016 amid allegations of Depp’s drug and alcohol-fueled attacks, including frequent beatings and even a hostage situation in Australia when she claimed Depp had her. kept locked up for three days. Depp has always claimed in his defense that Heard was the attacker, and that he often hid from her or told her what she wanted to hear to calm her down to avoid her tantrums.
The British court sided with Heard’s account of the events, ruling that it was correct that the British newspaper labeled the actor a woman beater. “We refuse Mr. Depp’s application to admit further evidence in support of his proposed appeal and we conclude that the appeal has no real prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason to hear it,” the court ruled. Thursday. “That’s why we refuse permission to appeal.”
The judges also wrote in their ruling that they “ did not believe that the judge would have come to a different conclusion if it had been determined for him that Ms. Heard had misleaded how much of the $ 7 million she said she had donated to charity, was in fact paid for. “
Heard’s spokesperson said Guardian that they were “but certainly not surprised” by the court’s decision. “The evidence presented in the UK case was overwhelming and undeniable,” said the spokesman. “To reiterate, the original verdict was that Mr. Depp committed domestic violence against Amber 12 times and feared for her life.”
The Sun The newspaper, which had the most to lose in the appeal, also welcomed the ruling against Depp. “The Sun was confident that this leave to appeal would not be granted and are pleased with today’s decision, ”the Sun said in a statement. The case has had a full, fair and due hearing, and today’s decision confirms the courageous evidence Amber Heard has given to the court about domestic violence, despite repeated attempts to undermine and silence her by the perpetrator. . The Sun will continue to advocate and campaign for victims of domestic violence. “