What is the Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp case?

Published by: Shivani Kharai

INTRODUCTION

Amber Heard, a 30-year-old actress, appeared in a Los Angeles court in May 2016 to seek a restraining order against her husband, Hollywood star Johnny Depp. Aside from their divorce and restraining order, the two actors are at odds in a defamation lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp against the Sun newspaper. An ugly battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard rages on, just a year after they spent a year in court in London. The publisher of Britain's asserted that he was a disparaging husband, sparking a courtroom brawl between the Hollywood star and his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, earlier this year.

Let’s get in detail and known more about the case.

BACKGROUND

Amber Heard, a 30-year-old actress, filed a restraining order against her husband, Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, in a Los Angeles court in May 2016. She claimed Depp violently attacked her and threw a cell phone at her face with extreme force in a rage. There were also allegations of additional instances of domestic violence. She claimed she had been subjected to excessive emotional, verbal, and physical abuse, as well as angry, hostile, humiliating, and threatening assaults. The restraining order was granted, and the marriage was soon annulled.

The couple was back in court four years later, but this time in London. Amber Heard, on the other hand, had not chosen to be present. Depp was suing The Sun, a British newspaper, for libel. His claim that the allegations of physical abuse were an "elaborate hoax" was at the centre of the case. Depp filed a lawsuit against News Group Newspapers and The Sun's executive editor, Dan Wootton, on an article alleging that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star was violent toward amber heard while they were together.

What is libel and how does it work?

To explain all of the differences, a much longer article would be required, but the essence of the legal divide between England and America is that if you write something defamatory in London, you must prove it is true. In America, the person who has been defamed must prove that it is not true, which is a very different task. It may appear to be a minor legal distinction, but it can make all the difference.

The libel laws in England and Wales were tightened in 2013, but it is still one of the best places in the world for the rich (and it is a rich person's game) to take on the media. If you want to win a libel case and have a choice about where to bring it, lawyers will advise you to fly to Heathrow. And if you want to understand how serious this was for Depp's reputation, consider what he was trading. He was surrounded by security guards and private planes. Taking it to court shattered it. If you've ever wondered what it's like to be Johnny Depp, this case shed light on his privileged but erratic life, his temper, and his history with drugs and alcohol.

However, what are the real issues in this case, which appear to have been obscured by Amber Heard's team's daily revelations?

·What many people have overlooked is that Johnny Depp has filed a lawsuit against the Sun Newspaper and its Editor Dan Wootton for falsely portraying him as a wife beater. The Sun and Dan Wootton's lawyers argue that the accusations must be true in order for it to be a justifiable libel. The basis for their claim is that Amber Heard, as their main witness, and her other cooperating witnesses have claimed that Johnny Depp assaulted her fourteen times, and thus the description of him as a wife beater is fully justified.

·Johnny Depp's team claims that there is no rationality to that assertion and that as a result of the incorrectly described definition of him as a wife beater, he has lost the chance to continue starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and different work. As a result, he's suing for compensation.

As a result of this, the following issues arise:

·Is Johnny Depp being innocent when he says he has never been a wife beater, and is Amber Heard fabricating all of these allegations for her own gain, including a better divorce resolution at the time she made them;

·Is Amber Heard being innocent about the violence she undergo at the hands of Johnny Depp, whom she claims was not aware of what he was doing most of the time due to his drug use and excessive drinking to the point where he was committing these actions through what she refers to as the "monster" in their relationship?

According to many practitioners, there appear to be two options: –

·Either the impact of the article was so profound on his career that he had no choice but to file libel suit to clear his name; or

·That he is so distressed by the unfounded allegations made against him that he believes they cannot be allowed to stand under any circumstances, and that he is willing to put himself through the utter despair that he knows will ensue because the allegations are clearly false.

Legal claims

According to Depp's lawyers, NGN and Wootton claimed in their article that Depp "was guilty, on overwhelming evidence, of serious domestic violence against his then wife, causing significant injury and leading to her fearing for her life, for which [Depp] was forced to pay no less than £5 million to compensate her, and which resulted in him being subjected to a continuing restraint.

"As a result, his lawyers claimed that "the publication of the articles have caused serious harm to his personal and professional reputation," as evidenced by:

· The gravity of the accusations;

· The massive scope of publication;

· The impacts of allegations of violence against women in the context of the well-known #MeToo/Up Time's movements;

· The use of quotes or purported quotes from women described as Harvey Weinstein victims.

· The articles' most likely intended effect was to end the Claimant's career.

Furthermore, Depp claimed he was entitled to damages because the article failed to mention:

· The temporary restraining order had been lifted;

· Charges refused

· That the LAPD police officers who visited Depp and Heard's home in May 2016 after an alleged abusive incident concluded no crime had been committed;

· That "the articles had misquoted and/or taken out of context remarks by Katherine Kendall, a #Me Too/Time's Up victim, and failed to correct the website article when Ms Kendall objected to being misquoted.[1]

DECISION

It was held that “the appeal has no real prospect of success and that there is no other compelling reason for it to be heard.” Depp lost his appeal to overturn the London court ruling in the case against The Sun.[2]

Two Court of Appeal judges ruled that Depp could not appeal the High Court's dismissal of libel suit against newspaper's publisher for calling him a "wife beater" in an article.

The justices, Nicholas Underhill and James Dingemans, provided that the previous court hearing was full and fair, and that the trial judge's conclusions “have not been shown to be vitiated by any error of approach or mistake of law.”

REFERENCES

· England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions, BAILII, https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2020/2911.html

· Johnny Depp refused permission to appeal libel verdict, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56521759

[1]England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions, BAILII, https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2020/2911.html [2]Johnny Depp refused permission to appeal libel verdict, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56521759

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