Johnny Depp's Appeal For Retrial In UK Libel Case Denied, Amber Heard Issues Statement
Johnny Depp had requested a retrial after he lost the libel claim against The Sun over an article calling him a "wife beater". The UK court has now denied his appeal.
Johnny
Depp
had
requested
a
retrial
after
he
lost
the
libel
claim
against
The
Sun
over
an
article
calling
him
a
"wife
beater".
According
to
reports,
the
UK
court
has
now
denied
his
appeal.
Justices
James
Dingemans
and
Nicholas
Underhill
said
that
the
December
2020
court
hearing
was
"full
and
fair".
The
court
also
added
that
the
conclusion
to
the
earlier
trial
could
not
be
argued
or
"vitiated
by
any
error
of
approach
or
mistake
of
law".
Depp's
former
wife
Amber
Heard
reacted
to
the
court
denying
his
appeal
and
said,
"The
evidence
presented
in
the
UK
case
was
overwhelming
and
undeniable."
Reportedly,
Heard's
reps
released
a
statement
to
Yahoo
saying,
"We
are
pleased
but
by
no
means
surprised
by
the
Court's
denial
of
Mr.
Depp's
application
for
appeal.
The
evidence
presented
in
the
UK
case
was
overwhelming
and
undeniable."
Amber
also
shared
the
statement
on
her
Instagram
account
and
kept
the
comments
off.
She
also
claimed
that
Depp's
new
evidence
for
the
retrial
was
a
"press
strategy."
"To
reiterate,
the
original
verdict
was
that
Mr.
Depp
committed
domestic
violence
against
Amber
on
no
fewer
than
12
occasions
and
she
was
left
in
fear
of
her
life.
The
verdict
and
lengthy,
well-reasoned
Judgement,
including
the
Confidential
Judgement,
have
been
affirmed.
Mr.
Depp's
claim
of
new
and
important
evidence
was
nothing
more
than
a
press
strategy,
and
has
been
soundly
rejected
by
the
Court," the
statement
concluded.
For
the
unversed,
back
in
2020,
Depp's
libel
claim
was
dismissed
by
Justice
Nicol,
who
found
The
Sun's
accusation
to
be
"substantially
true"
and
ruled
in
the
publisher's
favour.
The
court
had
found
that
Mr
Depp,
57,
had
assaulted
Ms
Heard,
34,
on
a
dozen
occasions
and
put
her
in
"fear
for
her
life"
three
times.
Meanwhile,
Depp
is
suing
Amber
personally
over
a
2018
Washington
Post
opinion
piece,
in
which
she
claimed
to
be
a
victim
of
domestic
abuse,
but
did
not
mention
the
actor
by
name.
The
case
filed
in
a
US
court
was
recently
delayed
until
April
2022.