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Tag: Johnny Depp

  • Johnny Depp is ready to work with Disney again after the betrayal

    Johnny Depp is ready to work with Disney again after the betrayal

    Reports indicate that Johnny Depp, who previously said he felt betrayed by Disney behind Pirates of the Caribbean, may return for more movies.

    “Anything is possible,” the Depp insider says. “If it’s the right project, he’ll do it.”

    According to The New York Times, Disney is “seemingly inching the door open” to collaborating with Depp again, although the source didn’t specify whether the actor would return for another Pirates movie.

    Buzz about a potential return to his role of Captain Jack Sparrow comes just over a year after Depp’s contentious defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. A seven-person jury reached a verdict that largely sided with Depp, though Heard, 37, won one of her three counterclaims.

    Despite many fans’ hopes at the time, a rep for Depp told PEOPLE in June of last year that a report claiming the actor was returning to the Pirates franchise for over $300 million was “false.”

    The saga’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer told U.K. outlet The Times in an interview published the previous month (while Depp was still in court for his defamation trial against Heard) that his team was working on “two Pirates scripts — one with [Margot Robbie], one without.”

    As for Depp potentially being involved, Bruckheimer, 79, said, “Not at this point” but “the future is yet to be decided.”

    While Hollywood insiders had conflicting views on whether Depp’s career would bounce back after the trial, a former Disney exec told PEOPLE at the time, “I absolutely believe post-verdict that Pirates is primed for rebooting with Johnny as Capt. Jack back on board. There is just too much potential box-office treasure for a beloved character deeply embedded in the Disney culture.”

    “With Jerry Bruckheimer riding high on the massive success of Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, there is huge appetite for bringing back bankable Hollywood stars in massively popular franchises,” the insider added.

    Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). FILM FRAME/WALT DISNEY/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK 

    Depp earned an Oscar nomination for playing Jack Sparrow in the original 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Its hit sequels came out in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2017.

    For now, Depp is set to direct the Al Pacino-starring biopic Modi, which will tell the story of 20th-century painter Amedeo Modigliani.

    He also recently made an appearance at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival to promote his movie Jeanne du Barry in which he plays Louis XV, the king of France who ruled from September 1715 until his death in 1774, opposite director Maïwenn.

    The French film received a seven-minute standing ovation, which the Depp source notes moved the actor to tears and “was incredibly welcoming.”

    “He loved being there,” the insider adds.

  • Camille Vasquez, has joined NBC news as legal analyst

    Camille Vasquez, has joined NBC news as legal analyst

    Camille Vasquez, an attorney who worked for actor Johnny Depp during his recent defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, is now working with NBC News in a legal-analyst role

    Vasquez made her first appearance as a contributor Monday on “Today.” She discussed the arrest of Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the much-scrutinized stabbing of four University of Idaho students.

    Vasquez works as a partner in the litigation & arbitration practice group at Brown Rudnick and is also co-chair of the firm’s brand & reputation management group. She and colleague Benjamin Chew served as lead attorneys for Depp in a case that drew attention across the globe.

    Late last year, Depp and Heard settled. Depp had been awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The punitive damages were reduced to $350,000. Heard was awarded $2 million in a counterclaim. Press reports suggested the two sides agreed that Heard would pay $1 million to Depp, who expected to donate the money to charity.

    Source: Yahoo

  • Amber Heard settles defamation case against Johnny Depp

    US actress Amber Heard will pay Johnny Depp $1m (£820,000) in a settlement of their defamation suit, lawyers for Mr Depp told the BBC.

    The former couple faced off in court this spring in a high-profile battle.

    In June, a Virginia jury mostly sided with Mr Depp, 59, finding that Ms Heard had defamed him in an article in which she called herself a victim of abuse.

    Announcing the settlement earlier on Monday, Ms Heard, 36, said the decision was “not an act of concession”.

    Earlier this month, she filed an appeal in the case, asking for the jury’s verdict to be reversed or for a new trial entirely.

    But in her statement on Monday, the Aquaman actress said she had made the choice to settle “having lost faith in the American legal system”.

    “Even if my US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a retrial,” she said. “I simply cannot go through that.”

    Mr Depp had sued his ex-wife for defamation based on a 2018 op-ed written by her and published in the Washington Post newspaper, in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”, without naming Mr Depp. Ms Heard filed a countersuit.

    The six-week televised trial drew widespread public scrutiny. The former couple, who divorced in 2017, presented starkly different accounts of their five-year relationship, both accusing the other of misbehaviour and violence. Mr Depp vigorously denied his ex-wife’s testimony, in which she claimed he had subjected her to emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

    The jury sided mostly with Mr Depp, awarding him $15m (£12m) in damages.

    The verdict surprised some legal experts, especially as it followed Mr Depp’s loss in a similar case in the UK two years ago.

    On Monday, lawyers for Mr Depp said in a statement they were happy to “formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr Depp”, adding that the actor would be donating the $1m settlement to a number of charities.

    Source: BBC

  • Johnny Depp Reprises ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Role in Make-A-Wish Video for 11-Year-Old Fan

    On Sunday, the YouTube channel “Kraken The Box” operated by an 11-year-old boy named Kori shared a personal video that Depp, 59, recently sent in collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In the clip, the actor reprised his role from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

    “So, Capt. Kori, terribly sorry I missed out on this. Meant to say it, forgot to say it, didn’t say it, gonna say it now. Saying it, I’ll say it,” Depp said in the video, which shows him wearing Jack Sparrow’s costume, headscarf, tattoos and all. “I hear tell of something they speak about in the ages of now called the YouTube channel, which I don’t understand, but why not?”

    Depp goes on to say he “shall be glad to follow your YouTube channel and I shall tell all my friends to follow your Youtube channel.”

    Kori’s YouTube account has gained 176,000 subscribers since the page was created on Nov. 28, largely featuring pirate-themed videos.

    “I think will make for a wonderful entertainment expertise momentary lapse of togetherness altogether in one space, but far apart, but then, at the same time, very close,” Depp — as the eccentric Jack Sparrow — said of the video sharing platform. “Curious, enduring and strange.”

    “I wish you the best of luck. I am your No. 1 fan, Capt. Kori,” Depp said to finish the video as he blows a kiss to the camera.

    A source close to Depp tells PEOPLE the actor was contacted by Make-A-Wish with “a timely ask,” as Kori is in palliative care after undergoing multiple heart surgeries.

    Kori is a “massive” fan of Jack Sparrow and frequently watched the Pirates    “during his multiple heart surgeries and subsequent recovery periods,” the source says.

     

    In a separate YouTube video titled “THANK YOU FOR 1000 SUBS!” shared by Kori and his mother last Thursday, Kori’s mother confirmed that her son has received two heart transplants in his life and is currently in palliative care.

    “So we are making the most of whatever time we have left by not going to school — bonus — not really doing any housework, living in our pajamas and just slumming it really,” she says in the video. “We’re just kind of focusing on making life as good as we possibly can and having as much fun as we can when we can.”

    Another video shared on Kori’s channel on Tuesday shows part of a video call between the boy and Depp, still in character as Jack Sparrow, in which the actor promises to officially name Kori “Capt. Kori.”

    While Depp’s future with the Pirates franchise remains uncertain in the wake of his highly publicized defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard, the actor has a history of making charitable donations to hospitals and visiting with sick children dressed as Jack Sparrow. He earned an Oscar nomination for his character’s debut in 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and he last played the part in the 2017 fifth installment.

    Those interested in learning more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation can do so on its website.

  • Amber Heard files appeal against Johnny Depp’s US libel win ruling

    In June, a US jury found Ms Heard defamed her ex-husband, Mr Depp, with an article in which she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse.

    Jurors awarded Mr Depp – who denied abusing Ms Heard – $15m (£12m) in compensatory and punitive damages.

    Her team have now asked for the jury’s verdict to be reversed, or for a new trial entirely.

    Ms Heard, 36, won one of three counter-claims against Mr Depp, 59, and was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in compensatory damages.

    But her team is now arguing the trial was held in the wrong state and also objected to the judge’s decision to exclude certain pieces of evidence, including notes from therapists documenting allegations of abuse.

    ‘Chilling effect’

    In a lengthy written document, her lawyers argued: “That holding, if allowed to stand, undoubtedly will have a chilling effect on other women who wish to speak about abuse involving powerful men.”

    The actress’s team went on to note the previous unsuccessful libel suit the Pirates of the Caribbean star brought against The Sun newspaper in 2018, for calling him a “wife-beater” in print. Suggesting the subsequent, separate US libel case “should never have gone to trial” because “another court had already concluded that Depp abused Heard on multiple occasions”.

    “After Depp filed this case, the United Kingdom High Court of Justice [the High Court of England and Wales sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice] ruled in a separate defamation action brought by Depp that Heard’s abuse allegations were true,” they said.

    The move comes a month after Mr Depp filed his own formal appeal against some of the verdict of the case. The BBC has asked his representatives if he has any comment on Heard’s appeal.

    The Rum Diary co-stars, who divorced in 2017, presented conflicting versions of their doomed relationship in the trial.

    Over six weeks, the court in Fairfax, Virginia, heard tawdry details of Mr Depp and Ms Heard’s tempestuous marriage, and its unhappy ending.

    Polls suggested many Americans were more interested in the legal drama than the war in Ukraine or a potentially historic ruling on abortion expected any day from the US Supreme Court.

    Coverage of the trial – which was televised and livestreamed – hit billions of views on social media.

    Source: BBC

  • Johnny Depp is returning to ‘Pirates of The Caribbean’ franchise but there’s a twist

    For those who have been fans of Jack Sparrow, there is news. Multiple reports claim that Johnny Depp will soon be returning to play the famous character on screen. Depp last played the popular character five years ago in the fifth and final instalment of  ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise.

    Depp will now again reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, a character that catapulted him to superstardom. But there is a twist. The project is reportedly a spin-off and titled  ‘A Day At The Sea’.

    A source close to the project stated, “Johnny is set to return as Captain Jack Sparrow and is scheduled to start filming at the beginning of February at a top-secret location in the UK.”

    The project is apparently in its initial phase and no director has been finalised. However, Disney, which has bank rolled the project is planning a test shoot and will begin production soon.


    “A call sheet has been distributed among those in the know. Bruce Hendricks, who worked on the first three films, is named as the Executive Producer on the new project,”the source added.

    A final statement revealed, “All the other details are being kept under lock and key. The whole project is shrouded in secrecy and Disney want to keep everything under wraps as best they can.”

    One of the most successful franchises that Hollywood has made, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ made Depp one of the highest-paid actors at one point of time.

    However, his role in the series hung in the balance after recent legal issues with ex-wife Amber Heard.

    Source: wionews

  • Gloria Steinem, over 130 experts sign open letter condemning ‘vilification’ of Amber Heard

    Gloria Steinem, along with several experts in intimate partner violence, are “deeply concerned” by the verdict in the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

    Steinem and organizations including the National Organization for Women, the National Women’s Law Center, Equality Now and the Women’s March Foundation went public with an open letter in support of Heard Wednesday.

    “The vilification of Ms. Heard and ongoing online harassment of her and those who have voiced support for her have been unprecedented in both vitriol and scale,” the open letter states. “Much of this harassment was fueled by disinformation, misogyny, biphobia, and a monetized social media environment where a woman’s allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault were mocked for entertainment.”

    Gloria Steinem reflects on her decades-long fight for equality, the violence women face

    The signees added: “The same disinformation and victim-blaming tropes are now being used against others who have alleged abuse.”

    The experts called the verdict in Depp’s favor “a fundamental misunderstanding of intimate partner and sexual violence and how survivors respond to it. … We have grave concerns about the rising misuse of defamation suits to threaten and silence survivors.”

    “We condemn the public shaming of Amber Heard,” the open letter concludes.

    he outpouring of support for Heard comes one week after Depp’s appearance in Rihanna’s “Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4” show, which stirred controversy.

    What happened in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial?

    Earlier this year, Depp faced his ex-wife Amber Heard in court during a highly contentious trial in which he accused Heard of defaming him in a December 2018 op-ed. In June, a Virginia jury awarded him more than $10 million in damages. Heard also partially won her countersuit with the jury awarding her $2 million in damages.

    The trial resurfaced Heard’s allegations of abuse by Depp during intense testimony, which was steamed live daily. Depp said he never abused Heard and claimed she abused him.

    Heard said after the trial she was “heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.” She also voiced worry that it “sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed in humiliated.”

    “Even somebody who is sure I’m deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media there’s been a fair representation,” she later said in a “Dateline” interview with Savannah Guthrie. “You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.”

    Meanwhile, Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez told “Today” host Savannah Guthrie that the actor, who was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read, had an “overwhelming sense of relief.”

    The attorney also shared that a mutual friend between her and Depp said, “I haven’t seen Johnny smile like that in six years.”

    “We encourage all victims to come forward and have their day in court, which is exactly what happened in this case,” she added.

    Source: Yahoo.com 

     

  • Lily-Rose Depp explains why she’s remained silent on Father Johnny Depp’s defamation trial

    Johnny Depp’s daughter has yet to comment on her father’s messy legal battle—and it appears she never will.

    In an Elle magazine cover story, Lily-Rose Depp explained why she’s remained silent about her dad’s defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. The 23-year-old model/actress, whose mother is Vanessa Paradis, said her parents always made it a point to protect her and her younger brother from the dark side of fame, and that growing up in the public eye gave her a deep respect for privacy.

    “My parents protected my brother [Jack] and me from it as much as possible,” she said. “I know my childhood didn’t look like everybody’s childhood, and it’s a very particular thing to deal with, but it’s also the only thing that I know.” She went on to add, “It’s different experiencing [fame] firsthand rather than by proxy. I guess it’s something that I’ve had to make my own way with.”

    Depp feels her father’s legal drama was simply too personal for her to publicly address.

    “When it’s something that’s so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal…I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts,” she said. “I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever. And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”

    After a weeks-long trial earlier this year, Johnny Depp and Heard were each found liable for defamation. The Pirates of the Caribbean star pointed to a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard implied Depp had abused her during their relationship. Heard filed her own defamation suit alleging her ex-husband’s attorney, Adam Waldman, had defamed her by dismissing her abuse claims as a hoax. Johnny Depp was ultimately awarded $15 million damages, and Heard $2 million in damages.

    Earlier this month, Depp filed to appeal the $2 million verdict awarded to Heard, arguing he was not responsible for Waldman’s comments. He also claimed he wasn’t aware of his lawyer’s remarks until after Heard filed the countersuit.

    Shortly after Heard’s abuse allegations came to light, a then-17-year-old Lily-Rose defended her father on Instagram. The 2016 post included a photo of Johnny Depp holding up Lily-Rose when she was a toddler.

    “My dad is the sweetest most loving person I know,” she wrote. “He’s been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him would say the same.”

    Source: Complex.com

  • Johnny Depp appeals $2 million awarded to Amber Heard in defamation ruling

    Johnny Depp filed an appeal Wednesday over the single count of defamation ruled in favor of ex-wife Amber Heard in their court case.

    People reports Depp is asking the court to overturn her counter suit victory—$2 million, versus the $15 million he was awarded—because he believes he should not be held accountable for a statement made by his attorney Adam Waldman. The Daily Mail published an article in April which included remarks from Waldman where he claimed Depp was set up by Heard and her friends with abuse allegations in 2016.

    “So Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist, and then placed a second call to 911,” Waldman said, according to TMZ.

    Heard was awarded $2 million because the jury determined that Waldman was acting as a mouthpiece for Depp, but the actor argues Heard’s legal team didn’t present any evidence that could have tied him to his lawyer’s remarks. Depp also mentions he testified that he was unaware of those comments prior to the filing of her counter suit.

    Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5M in punitive damages. The latter was reduced to $350,000 due to “the state’s statutory cap or legal limit.” Heard indicated shortly after the verdict that she intended on appealing the ruling.

    Heard filed a motion in July to toss out the defamation verdict on the grounds that she never mentioned Depp by name in the 2019 Washington Post op-ed in which she discussed being in an abusive relationship. The appeal was denied two weeks later.

    Another appeal was filed by Heard later that same month, and the actress overhauled her entire legal team in anticipation for her latest appeal, which appears to be rooted in defending her First Amendment rights.

    “We welcome the opportunity to represent Ms. Heard in this appeal as it is a case with important First Amendment implications for every American,” her new attorneys David L. Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown said in a joint statement. “We’re confident the appellate court will apply the law properly without deference to popularity, reverse the judgment against Ms. Heard, and reaffirm the fundamental principles of Freedom of Speech.”

    In her first interview following the verdict, Heard defended her testimony in the defamation case, asserting she stands by every word.

    Source: Complex.comm

  • Kanye West retains Johnny Depp’s Attorney from defamation trial

    Kanye West has hired an attorney in the wake of his recent antisemitic remarks.

    TMZ reports Ye is retaining Camille Vasquez, one of the attorneys who helped Johnny Depp in his defamation trail with ex-wife Amber Heard. Vasquez, along with her Los Angeles-based law firm Brown Rudnick, will provide Kanye with legal counsel on a “variety of business matters.”

    Ye sparked backlash this month by making harmful and offensive comments on social media and in interviews, including tweeting that he planned to go “death con 3 on Jewish people,” a likely reference to DEFCON 3.

    “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” he wrote. “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”

    Twitter subsequently removed his tweet for violating its rules. Ye’s latest Drink Champs episode was taken down shortly after premiering this week; it contained antisemitism and misinformation about the death of George Floyd. An already-taped appearance on LeBron James’ The Shop was scrapped for similar reasons.

    On Friday, Balenciaga announced it has no “plans for future projects” with West, as Women’s Wear Daily reported that the Kering-owned fashion house had cut ties with Ye, although a specific reason was not provided.

    “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” a Kering rep told the publication.

    Source: Complex.com

  • Johnny Depp and Attorney Joelle Rich reportedly ‘not exclusive’

    Johnny Depp is in no rush to settle down—at least, that’s what several sources say.

    According to TMZ, the 59-year-old actor is now dating Joelle Rich—the UK attorney who represented Depp in his 2018 lawsuit against The Sun. The rumored romance made headlines earlier this week with insiders claiming the two were romantically linked. But sources have since told TMZ that Depp isn’t quite ready for monogamy.

    “Johnny and Joelle are NOT exclusive,” the outlet reported. “In fact, a source connected to Johnny’s new movie tells us he’s recently been spotted on set getting cozy with a new woman while filming over in France.”

    The news conflicts with previous reports about the nature of Depp and Rich’s relationship. One insider told Us magazine that the couple was quite “serious.”

    “Their chemistry is off the charts …,” the source claimed. “They are the real deal.”

    However, TMZ reports Depp is hesitant to start anything serious, unlike his rumored new flame. According to the outlet, Rich was so dedicated to the actor that she spent two months in Virginia to attend his trial against Amber Heard. Sources say she was not part of Depp’s legal team, and was simply there to show her support. The attorney, who resides in the UK, reportedly left behind two children and her estranged husband.

    “There was no professional obligation for her being there. It was personal,” a source told Us.

    Depp and Rich have to publicly confirm the status of their relationship.

    Source: Complex.com

  • Johnny Depp reportedly dating Lawyer who represented him in UK Amber Heard trial

    Johnny Depp is reportedly dating his lawyer Joelle Rich, who had previously represented the embattled actor during his losing UK trial against The Sun tabloid newspaper.

    The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor sued The Sun’s publishing company News Group Newspapers back in 2020 over an April 2018 article that detailed accusations of abuse against his ex-wife Amber Heard, referring to him as a “wife-beater.”

    Over the course of nearly three weeks that summer, Justice Andrew Nicol listened to grueling testimonial accounts from both Depp and Heard in which the pair accused the other of abuse. Nicol ruled later that fall that Heard’s statements were “substantially true,” and that he found “the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp” had “been proved to the civil standard.”

    Rich was among Depp’s legal counsel who said it would be “ridiculous” if the actor didn’t appeal the ruling.

    TMZ has reportedly “confirmed” that the pair are now romantically seeing each other, and that the mother of two is currently in the process of getting divorced from her husband.

    While Rich was not a part of Depp’s legal team during his Virginia defamation case, she was reportedly present in the courtroom for “support,” according to Us Weekly.

    This news arrives a few months after Depp was rumored to be dating his U.S. lawyer Camille Vasquez, but she shut down those rumors in an interview with People.

    “I guess it comes with the territory of being a woman just doing her job,” Vasquez said at the time. “It’s disappointing that certain outlets kind of ran with it or said that my interactions with Johnny — who is a friend and I’ve known and represented for four-and-a-half years now — that my interactions in any way were inappropriate or unprofessional. That’s disappointing to hear.”

    TMZ had reported at the time that Depp and his entire legal counsel had grown very close during his summer defamation hearing, which he emerged victorious from after suing Heard for accusing him of abuse in a Washington Post op-ed. Vasquez said they would spend many late nights together working on Depp’s case, sometimes staying up until 5 a.m.

    “I care very deeply about my clients, and we have obviously become close. But when I say we, I mean the entire team, and of course that includes Johnny,” Vasquez said at the time. “And, I’m Cuban and Colombian. I’m tactile. What do you want me to say? I hug everyone. And I’m not ashamed about that.”

    The jury in that case found that Depp had, among other things, proven elements of defamation and that Heard “acted with actual malice.” Depp was awarded $10 million for compensatory damages and punitive damages of $5 million, Amber Heard and her legal team have said she plans to appeal the ruling.

    Heard said in a widely viewed interview following the ruling that she had “always told the truth.”

    “I would not blame the average person for looking at this and how it’s been covered and not think that it is Hollywood brats at their worst,” Heard said on NBC. “But what people don’t understand is it’s actually so much bigger than that. This is not only about our First Amendment right to speak.”

    Source: Complex.com

  • Johnny Depp wins libel case against ex-wife, Amber Heard

    Johnny Depp brought the six-week court case after an op-ed in the Washington Post in December 2018 in which Amber Heard said she had endured domestic violence during their 15-month marriage.

    A US jury has found Amber Heard defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp with an article in which she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse.

    Jurors awarded Mr Depp – who denied abusing Ms Heard – $15m (£12m) in compensatory and punitive damages.

    Ms Heard, 36, won one of three counter-claims against Mr Depp, 58, and was awarded $2m in compensatory damages.

    The Hollywood stars, who divorced in 2017, presented conflicting versions of their doomed relationship in the trial.

    Over six weeks, the court in Fairfax, Virginia, heard tawdry details of Mr Depp and Ms Heard’s tempestuous marriage, and its unhappy ending.

    Polls suggested many Americans were more interested in the legal drama than the war in Ukraine or a potentially historic ruling on abortion expected any day from the US Supreme Court.

    Coverage of the trial – which was televised and livestreamed – hit billions of views on social media.

    After nearly two days of deliberations, jurors found on Wednesday that Ms Heard’s statements about her marriage were “false” and she had acted with “actual malice”.

    But they also found that Mr Depp had defamed Ms Heard when his lawyer gave a statement to the Daily Mail in 2020 calling her abuse allegations a hoax.

    As the seven-member jury delivered its verdict, screams and chants of “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny” erupted outside the court.

    Mr Depp was not in court due to “previously scheduled work commitments”, his spokesperson said. The actor was said to be watching from the United Kingdom, where he has played three surprise concerts alongside his friend, British musician Jeff Beck, since the jury began deliberating on Friday.

    On the eve of the verdict, Mr Depp received a standing ovation after performing with Mr Beck at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

    In a statement on Wednesday, he said: “The jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”

    He added, in Latin: “Truth never perishes.”

    Mr Depp’s statement continued: “I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up.”

    Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the punitive damages awarded to Depp to $350,000, the statutory cap in Virginia. That leaves his total damages at $10.4m. Ms Heard was not awarded any punitive damages.

    The actress, who sat sombrely throughout the reading of the verdict, said in a statement that she was “heartbroken”. She argued that the jury had ignored evidence in her favour.

    “I’m sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly,” said the actress, who stars in an Aquaman sequel due out next year.

    She added: “I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.”

    A spokeswoman for Ms Heard has said she plans to appeal the ruling.

     

    Source: BBC

  • Amber Heard: It’s easy to forget I’m a human being

    Amber Heard says she felt humiliated and had faced hundreds of daily death threats after testifying at Johnny Depp’s trial against her.

    Speaking on the final day of the trial before closing statements, the actress said: “Perhaps it’s easy to forget, but I am a human being.”

    Mr Depp, 58, is suing Ms Heard, 36, over an article she wrote in which she said she was the victim of abuse.

    He has repeatedly denied her claims.

    Over more than a month of testimony, jurors have been presented with starkly different versions of incidents that took place throughout the couple’s troubled two years together.

    Both actors accuse the other of being the aggressor in the relationship and have called witnesses to testify on their behalf. A number of the witnesses called by Mr Depp’s team have directly contradicted Ms Heard’s claims.

    “I know how many people will come out and say whatever for him,” Ms Heard said in court on Thursday. “That’s his power. That’s why I wrote the op-ed. I was speaking to that phenomenon.”

    Ms Heard’s testimony on Wednesday also led to a tense exchange with Camille Vasquez – Mr Depp’s now viral lawyer – over an image of spilled wine. It is one of several pictures Ms Heard has presented, allegedly from a huge fight the couple had in 2016 which ended with Mr Depp assaulting her.

    At one point, Ms Heard turned to jurors and claimed the photos had been redacted or edited by Mr Depp’s lawyers to benefit her ex-husband’s case.

    “I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t be making arguments to the jury,” Ms Vasquez said sternly. “I didn’t ask you about anything.”

    Throughout her testimony, Ms Heard repeatedly denied accusations she was lying or misled jurors during the trial.

    Her testimony, she added, had led to “hundreds” of death threats on a daily basis and forced her to “relive the trauma” of her marriage.

    “This is horrible… this is humiliating for any human being to go through and perhaps it’s easy to forget, but I am a human being,” she said. “As I stand here today, I can’t have a career. I can’t even have people associate with me because of the threats and the attacks that they will have to endure.”

    Mr Depp is suing Ms Heard for $50m (£40m) for a 2018 comment article she wrote in the Washington Post in which she said she was the victim of abuse.

    While he wasn’t named, his attorneys have said it “incalculably” damaged his career. She has countersued him for $100m.

    Closing arguments will begin on Friday, followed by jury deliberations.

    Source: BBC

  • Heard’s team change course on Johnny Depp testimony

    Amber Heard’s team will not call Johnny Depp to the stand, a source close to Ms Heard said, a strategic U-turn in the last days of the high-profile trial.

    Ms Heard’s team had planned to call Mr Depp for more questioning on Monday, but changed course without explanation at midday.

    Mr Depp, 58, sued his ex-wife for $50m (£40m) for a column she wrote in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse. Ms Heard, 36, has countersued.

    The case is expected to wrap this week.

    British supermodel Kate Moss, a former girlfriend of Mr Depp, is among witnesses expected to take the stand in the remaining days of the defamation trial.

    On Monday, the court in Fairfax, Virginia, heard from several witnesses called by Ms Heard’s team, including psychologist David Spiegel.

    Dr Spiegel testified that Mr Depp “has behaviours that are consistent with someone that both has substance use disorder as well as behaviours of someone who is a perpetrator of intimate partner violence”.

    About 40-60% of intimate partner violence is committed under the influence of alcohol or substance use disorders, Dr Spiegel told jurors.

    Mr Depp’s lawyers sought to undermine this testimony on cross-examination, highlighting that Dr Spiegel had reached his conclusions without any direct contact with Mr Depp.

    Also on Monday, a hand surgeon testified it was unlikely that Mr Depp’s finger was cut during a fight with Ms Heard in Australia in the way that he has described.

    Mr Depp has said the tip of his middle finger was severed when Ms Heard threw a vodka bottle at him.

    The jury saw graphic images of Mr Depp’s injured finger as Dr Richard Moore said that the damage was more consistent with being pinched by a closing door.

    Dr Moore did not physically examine Mr Depp at the time of the injury.

    Ms Heard’s team is expected to rest its case early this week before Mr Depp’s team takes its final chance to sway the jury.

    In Cannes, France on May 15, 1998-Johnny Depp and Kate MossGETTY IMAGES
    Kate Moss and Johnny Depp in Cannes in 1998

    The testimony from the two medical doctors on Monday was just the latest in a long line of competing expert testimony. One psychologist, called by Mr Depp’s team, testified that Ms Heard suffers from two personality disorders.

    Another, called by Ms Heard’s team, rejected this finding and said instead that Ms Heard had post-traumatic stress disorder.

    Ms Heard and Mr Depp have each testified in the weeks-long battle, offering starkly different accounts of their brief, tempestuous marriage.

    Ms Heard claimed Mr Depp was prone to alcohol and drug binges, easily triggered by feelings of jealousy and often consumed by violent rages.

    Mr Depp, in turn, alleged he was the victim of Ms Heard’s volatile moods, telling jurors he routinely endured her verbal, emotional and physical abuse.

    Source: BBC

  • Amber Heard denies striking Johnny Depp and doctoring photos

    Johnny Depp’s legal team has accused Amber Heard of using drugs, striking him and manipulating photos she has used as evidence of his alleged abuse.

    Ms Heard, 38, was being cross-examined about her allegations that Mr Depp could be violent while using alcohol and drugs.

    The 58-year-old actor is suing his ex-wife for $50m (£40m) for a column she wrote in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.

    He has denied ever assaulting her.

    Mr Depp’s lawyers cross-examined Ms Heard on her version of events related to a lengthy 2015 argument between the former couple, which took place while in Australia.

    That argument has been raised repeatedly over the course of the trial.

    Mr Depp has claimed his ex-wife severed his fingertip by throwing a vodka bottle at him. Ms Heard has told jurors that Mr Depp sexually violated her with a bottle.

    In court on Tuesday, Mr Depp’s lawyer questioned why Ms Heard did not seek medical attention despite claiming she suffered cuts and bruises during the chaotic fight.

    “You’re the one who assaulted someone with a bottle in Australia, isn’t that right Ms Heard,” attorney Camille Vasquez said.

    In response, Ms Heard said that she “didn’t assault Johnny, ever”.

    But she did acknowledge that she struck Mr Depp on several instances, which she said happened after “years of not defending myself”. She made similar statements on Monday, saying she “reactively” hit him during physical altercations.

    Jurors were also shown an extract from a journal – which Ms Heard described as “love notes” – in which she appears to have apologised to Mr Depp.

    “I’m sorry I can get crazy. I’m sorry I hurt you,” she wrote. “I can get wicked when I’m hurt”.

    Explaining the entry, Ms Heard said that “it’s important to apologise when you’re trying to move past fights”.

    Jurors also heard audio in which Ms Heard can be telling her then husband that “she gets so mad, she loses it” and that she can’t promise “she won’t get physical”.

    Ms Vasquez also questioned the veracity of a May 2016 photograph that Ms Heard has said shows the aftermath of Mr Depp’s alleged physical abuse.

    “Isn’t it true you just edited these photographs?” Ms Vasquez said.

    Ms Heard replied: “No, I’ve never edited a photograph.”

    During the gruelling cross-examination, jurors were also shown an itinerary for the couple’s wedding, which included plans for a “dance party and drugs and music”.

    Ms Heard has repeatedly characterised Mr Depp’s drug use as problematic and a source of tension in their marriage.

    “So, your original idea was to do drugs on an island after your rehearsal dinner to the drug-fueled monster that you were about to marry?” Ms Vasquez asked.

    In response, Ms Heard said it was a draft itinerary and that there was “going to be weed” at the event. She also admitted to drug use on her 30th birthday.

    Over several days of testimony earlier this month, Ms Heard repeatedly said that Mr Depp had attempted to control her career, did not like her taking on new roles, and sometimes became jealous of her co-stars.

    During cross-examination, Ms Vasquez accused Ms Heard of being the “jealous one”, who had landed her role in the high-profile Aquaman film thanks to Mr Depp.

    “No, Ms Vasquez, I got that role by auditioning,” she responded.

    Mr Depp’s defamation case against his former wife hinges on a 2018 opinion piece in the Washington Post newspaper in which she described herself as a victim of abuse, though the piece did not name Mr Depp.

    She has countersued him for $100m.

    Source: BBC

  • Johnny Depp: Claims in The Sun he beat ex-wife ‘complete lies’, court told

    Claims that Johnny Depp was violent towards ex-wife Amber Heard are “complete lies”, his lawyers have told the High Court.

    The actor is suing the publisher of The Sun – News Group Newspapers (NGN) – and executive editor Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that referred to him as a “wife beater”.

    Mr Depp has strenuously denied that he was violent towards Ms Heard.

    But NGN lawyers said the “wife beater” description was “entirely accurate”.

    Both Mr Depp and Ms Heard were in court in London on Tuesday morning.

    In a written outline of the Hollywood star’s case, his barrister, David Sherborne, said the article made “defamatory allegations of the utmost seriousness” against Mr Depp, accusing him of committing serious assaults on Ms Heard and “inflicting such serious injuries that she feared for her life”.

    Mr Sherborne said: “The articles amount to a full-scale attack on the claimant as a ‘wife beater’, guilty of the most horrendous physical abuse.”

    He added: “The claimant’s position is clear – Ms Heard’s allegations are complete lies.

    “The claimant was not violent towards Ms Heard, it was she who was violent to him.”

    Mr Sherborne also asked Mr Depp – called as the first witness in the case – about a recording of a conversation between the actor and Ms Heard on September 26 2015.

    Mr Depp explained that both he and Ms Heard recorded conversations during their relationship.

    In her witness statement, Ms Heard had said that she recorded their conversations “to remind Johnny of what he would do when using drugs and alcohol because he wouldn’t remember, or deny what he had said”.

    But Mr Depp said that was not correct, telling the court that Ms Heard’s later recollection of their conversations would sometimes be “radically different”.

    Source: bbc.com

  • I wanted to become an actor to kiss women – Singer, Johnny Drille recalls

    Nigerian alternative musician Johnny Drille has made a very interesting revelation about his life.

    Johnny Drille opened up on the way he perceived life as he shared some of his childhood dreams.

    The silky-voiced singer revealed that, growing up as a child, his dreams was to be on screen acting.

    According to Johnny Drille, his main aim of wanting to become an actor was to kiss women in movies.

    He, however, noted that his aspirations towards becoming an actor were not right before he saw the light and became born again.

  • Johnny Depp: Dispute over finger injury at centre of The Sun libel case

    How Johnny Depp lost the top of his middle finger is proving key to a libel case he has brought against The Sun.

    The actor is suing publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over a 2018 article that alleged he was violent and abusive towards his ex-wife Amber Heard.

    At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the newspaper group said he sustained the injury during “an alcohol and drug-addled rage against Ms Heard” in 2015.

    But he claims his finger was fractured when she threw a glass bottle at him.

    The couple met in 2011, married in 2015 and settled their divorce out of court in 2017.

    Ms Heard, who is giving evidence in support of The Sun, has accused her ex-husband of grabbing, shoving and strangling her while they were on holiday in Australia.

    She claims he “severely injured his finger, cutting off the top” while he was smashing a telephone against a wall, according to NGN’s barrister Adam Wolanski QC.

    But Mr Depp claims Ms Heard threw a glass bottle at him, which smashed and fractured his finger, before she put “a cigarette out on [Mr Depp’s] right cheek”.

    Mr Wolanski said the accounts of what happened were “diametrically opposed” and claimed Mr Depp’s version of events was undermined by texts he later sent to his doctor.

    Penelope Cruz and Winona Ryder have provided written statements that express surprise and shock at seeing him characterised as violent.

    According to Mr Wolanski, Ms Heard believes her ex-husband is “leaking evidence which he thinks supports his case into the press”.

    It will be decided at another preliminary hearing on Friday whether the two-week trial will begin on Monday.

    Neither Mr Depp nor Ms Heard attended Wednesday’s hearing.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Dispute over finger injury at centre of The Sun libel case

    How Johnny Depp lost the top of his middle finger is proving key to a libel case he has brought against The Sun.

    The actor is suing publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over a 2018 article that alleged he was violent and abusive towards his ex-wife Amber Heard.

    At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the newspaper group said he sustained the injury during “an alcohol and drug-addled rage against Ms Heard” in 2015.

    But he claims his finger was fractured when she threw a glass bottle at him.

    The couple met in 2011, married in 2015 and settled their divorce out of court in 2017.

    Ms Heard, who is giving evidence in support of The Sun, has accused her ex-husband of grabbing, shoving and strangling her while they were on holiday in Australia.

    She claims he “severely injured his finger, cutting off the top” while he was smashing a telephone against a wall, according to NGN’s barrister Adam Wolanski QC.

    But Mr Depp claims Ms Heard threw a glass bottle at him, which smashed and fractured his finger, before she put “a cigarette out on [Mr Depp’s] right cheek”.

    Mr Wolanski said the accounts of what happened were “diametrically opposed” and claimed Mr Depp’s version of events was undermined by texts he later sent to his doctor.

    Penelope Cruz and Winona Ryder have provided written statements that express surprise and shock at seeing him characterised as violent.

    According to Mr Wolanski, Ms Heard believes her ex-husband is “leaking evidence which he thinks supports his case into the press”.

    It will be decided at another preliminary hearing on Friday whether the two-week trial will begin on Monday.

    Neither Mr Depp nor Ms Heard attended Wednesday’s hearing.

    Source: bbc.com