Johnny Depp: Labelled and Lost

Today, the news is highly focused on the case surrounding Johnny Depp and his attempts in suing the Sun newspaper for labelling him a ‘wife-beater’ earlier this year. This came after Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard, accused him of domestic abuse.

If you are unfamiliar with the case, here is some context:

Johnny Depp, 57, and Amber Heard, 34, met on the set of the film “The Rum Diary” back in 2009 and eventually wed in February 2015.

After just 15 months of marriage, Heard filed for divorce and obtained a restraining order against the famous movie-star just days later.

It wasn’t until 2017 that their divorce was finalised, at which point the restraining order was dismissed.

In their divorce settlement; Depp was to pay Heard £5.6m and a confidentiality agreement prevented both of them from discussing their relationship publicly.

Here’s what happened:

As of today, movie-star Johnny Depp has lost the libel case against the Sun newspaper after it labelled him a ‘wife-beater’ earlier this year.

The controversial news outlet claimed that Depp had assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard, which he denied.

Judge, Mr Justice Nicol, said that the Sun had proved the contents of the article to be “substantially true” leading to the Sun’s victory.

The judge found that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence against Depp had occurred, 3 of which it is believed that Heard feared for her life.

The most notable time being in Australia in 2015 when Depp was allegedly physically and verbally abusive to his then-wife, whilst he was drunk and on drugs.

It was on this day that The Pirates of the Caribbean star accused Heard of severing his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him. Depp claims to have had “some species of a nervous breakdown” after the alleged incident.

Following this, Depp admitted to writing graffiti with the blood from his wounded finger and dipping it in paint to continue writing messages and other things once the blood flow slowed down.

The judge found Heard innocent of allegedly injuring his finger.

Ms Heard’s lawyer said: “Very soon, we will be presenting even more voluminous evidence in the US.”

The ongoing conflict between Depp and Heard is a continuous battle.

Mr Depp’s representative, Jenny Afia, said: “The judgement is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr Depp not to appeal this decision.”

Depp intends on appealing the results of the case and is suing Heard in another separate case over an opinion piece she wrote for the Washington Post – which he believes implies that he was a violent domestic abuser and breaks the confidentiality agreement in their divorce settlement.

What ‘evidence’ did Depp have that made people believe him?

You may have noticed that #JusticeforJohnnyDepp is trending on Twitter as many of his supporters have jumped to his defence in the belief that the court’s decision was wrong.

To begin, many people believed the allegations Depp made about Heard were true.

For example, he claimed that Heard, or one of her friends, defecated on the couple’s bed on the morning after her 30th Birthday Party in 2016. Heard denied this claim and suggested that it came from one of their dogs, Pistol or Boo. She added that Boo had problems since he had allegedly eaten Depp’s marijuana as a puppy.

Heard was also accused of having two affairs, with Elon Musk and James Franco, during her marriage with Johnny Depp, which she also denied.

A large part of Depp’s defence was his witnesses.

His security officer, Sean Bett, said that during the pair’s marriage, he had seen Heard be verbally and physically abusive towards Depp when intoxicated.

There was also Depp’s bodyguard, Connolly, who supported allegations that Heard severed his finger with a vodka bottle and that she put a cigarette out on his face – Connolly claims to have seen both injuries after they happened.

Another witness was Depp’s estate manager, who also admitted that she had never seen Depp act violently towards Heard but claimed that she had witnessed her being abusive towards him.

Depp’s stylist for 18 years (and also Heard’s while the pair were married), Samantha McMillan, said when Amber accused Johnny of beating her back in 2015, that she saw no bruises on Heard’s body the morning after the alleged attack.

Depp’s most persuading defence comes from his previous relationships in which his ex-partners have come out in their support for him, including Winona Ryder, who said: “The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved. I cannot wrap my head around these accusations.”

There was also evidence of Heard saying “you’re fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you”. Which proved she had in fact been violent towards him, supporting his allegations.