Johnny Depp is denied permission to appeal his High Court defeat
Johnny Depp is DENIED permission to appeal against High Court ruling that newspaper was entitled to call him a ‘wife beater’ over claims by ex Amber Heard – leaving him facing £628,000 legal bill
- Johnny Depp, 57, lost a High Court case over claims he beat his ex Amber Heard
- The Pirates of the Caribbean star today was denied permission to appeal his loss
- He took a libel case against a British paper which described him as a ‘wife beater’
- A High Court judge last month ruled the paper’s story was ‘substantially true’
Johnny Depp‘s bid to overturn a damning High Court ruling that he assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard and put her in fear for her life has been dealt an initial setback after he was refused permission to appeal.
The Hollywood star sued The Sun’s publisher for libel after a 2018 column by its executive editor Dan Wootton labelled him a ‘wife beater’.
The 57-year-old took legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN) over the column, which referred to ‘overwhelming evidence’ he attacked Ms Heard, 34, during their relationship.
Hollywood star Johnny Depp, pictured, has failed in an attempt to to appeal his recent High Court defeat over allegations that he had assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard
The High Court in London was told that Amber Heard, pictured right, was in fear of her life. Earlier this month, Mr Justice Nichol found a story that claimed Depp had assaulted his ex-wife was ‘substantially true’
The High Court libel case heard a string of claims about the nature of Depp’s relationship with his ex-wife Amber Heard, left
Earlier this month, Mr Justice Nicol dismissed the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor’s claim, finding NGN had proved what was in the article was ‘substantially true’.
The same judge refused Mr Depp permission to appeal last week, ruling: ‘I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success.’
The judge also ordered the actor to make an initial payment to NGN of almost £630,000 for the publisher’s legal fees.
Mr Justice Nicol said in his ruling: ‘In substance, the claimant disagrees with my findings of fact, but for the reasons summarised by (NGN’s barrister Adam Wolanksi QC) the findings of fact by a first instance tribunal – particularly one, such as myself, who has heard oral evidence – are rarely open to challenge on appeal.
‘In any event, I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success – and that is also the case so far as the grounds of appeal suggest that I erred in principle or in law – and there is not some other compelling reason why permission to appeal should be granted.’
In the ruling, which was made public on Wednesday, Mr Justice Nicol gave Mr Depp until December 7 to apply directly to the Court of Appeal to overturn his judgment.
In his main judgment, published earlier this month, Mr Justice Nicol concluded that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence relied on by NGN did occur.
The judge found that Mr Depp assaulted Ms Heard on a dozen occasions and put her in ‘fear for her life’ on three occasions, including one the actress described as a ‘three-day hostage situation’ in Australia in March 2015.
Mr Justice Nicol found Ms Heard was also in fear for her life during incidents on the Eastern and Oriental Express in South East Asia in August 2015 and again in LA in December of the same year.
The judge found that Mr Depp assaulted Ms Heard on a dozen occasions and put her in ‘fear for her life’ on three occasions, including one the actress described as a ‘three-day hostage situation’ in Australia in March 2015
Depp, pictured, has been told he has until December 7 to apply directly to the Court of Appeal to overturn the High Court’s ruling
His solicitor Jenny Afia, from the Schillings law firm, had said the High Court ruling was ‘as perverse as it is bewildering’, adding: ‘The judgment is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr Depp not to appeal this decision’
The judge said ‘a recurring theme in Mr Depp’s evidence was that Ms Heard had constructed a hoax and that she had done this as an ‘insurance policy”, and that Ms Heard was a ‘gold-digger’.
But he added: ‘I do not accept this characterisation of Ms Heard.’
Mr Depp announced just days after the ruling that he was asked by Warner Brothers to resign from his role in the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts – the very role which prompted Mr Wootton to ask how JK Rowling could be ‘genuinely happy’ Mr Depp was cast in the film.
In that statement, he said: ‘The surreal judgement of the court in the UK will not change my fight to tell the truth and I confirm that I plan to appeal.’
His solicitor Jenny Afia, from the Schillings law firm, had said the High Court ruling was ‘as perverse as it is bewildering’, adding: ‘The judgment is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr Depp not to appeal this decision.’
But Ms Heard’s US lawyer, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, said: ‘For those of us present for the London High Court trial, this decision and judgment are not a surprise.
‘Very soon, we will be presenting even more voluminous evidence in the US.’
Mr Depp is currently embroiled in a separate libel battle in the US, having sued Ms Heard personally over a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.
The actor is reportedly seeking 50 million US dollars in damages from his ex-wife over the article, which did not mention him by name – but Ms Heard is countersuing for twice that amount, claiming Mr Depp orchestrated a smear camp against her.
That case is due to be heard in Virginia, where the Washington Post is published, some time in 2021.
THE DEFECATION INCIDENT
This came to be known as ‘poo-gate,’ and took place in Los Angeles in April 2016 during Heard’s 30th birthday party.
Depp told the court that he arrived two hours late, after receiving some bad news about his financial losses and that a row broke out between him and Heard.
She told that court that her ex-husband threw a magnum champagne bottle at her and shoved her to the floor several times before leaving a note reading ‘Happy F***ing Birthday’.
The next day, Depp alleged that he had been informed that Heard had defecated in their marital bed and told the building manager that it was ‘just a harmless prank.
He admitted in court that at first, he laughed about the incident, referring to his ex-wife as ‘Amber Turd,’ but it was around this point that he decided to divorce her and moved out of their penthouse.
Heard blamed their small dog Boo for the faeces and told the court that she would never do something so ‘absolutely disgusting.’
She claimed the dog had a problem with messing itself ‘since the weed’- claiming Boo ate a bag of Depp’s cannabis as a puppy.
The judge said today that Amber did not poo in the bed, saying it was more likely to have been one of the couple’s dogs.
THE PHONE THROWING INCIDENT
A month later in May 2016 Depp told the court that he returned to the penthouse to collect his belongings with his private security guards Jerry Judge and Sean Betts.
Heard said Depp became ‘very angry’, throwing her phone at her and hitting her in the eye before smashing ‘everything he could’ with a magnum of champagne after they started rowing over the defecation incident.
Depp claimed his two security guards entered the room when they heard Heard shouting, and saw her ‘repeatedly screaming, ‘stop hitting me, Johnny” while he was 20 feet away in the kitchen.
He also says that two police officers who attended the apartment after the incident ‘saw no injuries or bruising or swelling’.
Both officers also gave evidence via video link and claimed that they did not see Heard with any injuries.
THE ‘SEVERED FINGER’ INCIDENT
Depp was accused of repeatedly assaulting Heard after an argument over his use of MDMA during a three-day trip to Australia, while he was filming Pirates of the Caribbean.
She told the court that he stayed up all night, taking pills and drinking, and then attacked her again the next morning.
The following night, he pushed her into a table tennis table, tore off her nightgown and attacked her, before smashing a telephone into a wall and severing the top of his middle finger.
The court was shown photographs of a mansion they were staying in, which Heard claimed Depp daubed with graffiti using his blood and smashed up parts of it up.
She claims he wrote messages to her around the house in a mixture of paint and blood from his finger – which Mr Depp admitted doing while ‘in shock’ – as well as having ‘urinated all over the house in an attempt to write messages.’
Depp claimed that it was Heard who was violent, throwing a bottle at him which severed the top of his finer and stubbing a cigarette out on his cheek, resulting in him being taken to hospital.
THE LATE LATE SHOW
The High Court was also played excerpts of Heard’s appearance on The Late, Late Show with James Corden in December 2015.
Twenty-four hours before the show she claimed that Depp slapped her, dragged her by the hair through their apartment – pulling clumps of her hair out – and then repeatedly punched her in the head, leaving her with ‘tons of injuries’ including bruised ribs and arms, bruises all over her body, two black eyes, a broken nose and a broken lip.
When asked by Depp’s lawyer Eleanor Laws QC why none of the injuries to her face were visible when she appeared on live television, Heard replied that she had covered them up with makeup.
THE PLANE INCIDENT
Depp and Heard took a private plane from Boston to LA. She claimed that during that time he was drinking heavily, threw objects at her, pushed a chair at her, slapped her and kicked her in the back before passing out in the toilet.
Depp says Heard ‘began to harangue him’ as he was sketching in a notebook, he then tried to ‘playfully tap her on the bottom with his foot’, at which Miss Heard took ‘great offence’ and continued to verbally berate him.
The court was also played an audio recording taken during the incident. During the 18-second clip a woman’s voice can be heard saying ‘keep an eye on him,’ while what sounds like a man makes long, low moans.
While giving evidence, Depp did not confirm that it was him but admitted that he could not remember anybody else making that noise on the plane.
He described the noise as sounding ‘like an animal in pain,’ to which Sasha Wass QC, the Sun’s lawyer responded: ‘I think you are that animal.’
‘DISCO BLOODBATH’ INCIDENT
The court was also shown photographs of Heard’s trashed LA home taken in March 2013. She claimed that the actor became angry and jealous when she had hung a painting, by her ex-partner Tasya Van Ree, by her bed.
Depp was also accused of trying to set it on fire and hitting Heard so hard that blood from her lip ended up on the wall.
Depp maintained that he simply asked Heard to move the painting from the bedroom ‘as a courtesy’ and that she had an ‘extreme reaction’.
He also says a text he sent later, describing the evening as a ‘disco bloodbath’, was designed to placate Heard and not an apology for alleged violence.
AUSTRALIA DOG SMUGGLING INCIDENT
Heard was accused of forcing two of Depp’s staff to lie about their two dogs being taken to Australia in April 2015, despite them repeatedly telling her that it was not legal for them to be taken.
Kevin Murphy, who worked for the Pirates of the Caribbean star for almost eight years, alleged that Heard had ‘demanded’ he make a false statement about the animals being ‘smuggled’ into the country.
He also alleged in a statement that she had asked him to contact her former assistant Kate James and ask her to lie under oath to an Australian court.
In October 2015 Heard faced criminal proceedings in Australia for taking the couple’s two Yorkshire terriers, Pistol and Boo, into the country illegally.
She and Depp recorded a now-famous video in 2016 apologising for doing so.
Murphy claim that he was put ‘under pressure’ by Heard for making a false statement, which he later retracted once she and Depp split.
