Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has lost his libel lawsuit against a British newspaper over an article which labelled him a “wife beater”
The actor sued the tabloid’s publisher News Group Newspapers and the author of the 2018 article, which referred to “overwhelming evidence” that he attacked ex-wife Amber Heard during their relationship.
High Court Judge Andrew Nicol in a ruling on Monday dismissed the 57-year-old’s claim saying the newspaper group’s article had been proven to be “substantially true”, adding “the claimant has not succeeded in his action for libel”.
“I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard,” said judge Nicol.
“I have reached these conclusions having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the defendants rely as well as the overarching considerations which the claimant submitted I should take into account,” he added.
The biggest English libel trial of the 21st century garnered worldwide attention as it unfolded over three weeks in July at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean star denied having been violent to Amber Heard, and claimed the article included quotes from alleged victims of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein in order to “finish his career” by linking the allegations against him to the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.
