was a defamation lawsuit brought in England. The case was initiated by American actor Johnny Depp, who sued News Group Newspapers (NGN) and then-executive editor Dan Wootton for libel after The Sun ran an article that claimed Depp had abused his ex-wife and criticised his casting in the Fantastic Beasts film series. The article stated, "Overwhelming evidence was filed to show Johnny Depp engaged in domestic violence against his wife Amber Heard," who "recounted a detailed history of domestic abuse incidents, some of which had led to her fearing for her life." After a three-week trial in London in July 2020, Andrew Nicol, a High Court judge sitting without a jury, rejected Depp's claim in a verdict announced later that year, ruling that the published material was "substantially true".
In May 2016, Heard filed for divorce and for a temporary restraining order against Depp. In April 2018, The Sun, published by NGN, ran an article online originally titled "GONE POTTY How Can J K Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?", written by Dan Wootton, an executive editor at the paper. Depp sued NGN and Wootton for libel, stating that he wanted to clear his name and alleging that Heard had not only lied about the abuse but had in fact abused him. In their defence, NGN and Wootton alleged fourteen incidents of domestic abuse committed by Depp. During the highly publicised trial, both Heard and Depp testified in person.
In November 2020, the court published its judgement, rejecting Depp's claim against The Sun and ruling that he had assaulted Heard in 12 of the 14 alleged incidents and had put her in fear of her life.Depp v NGN & Wootton (2020), paras. 574-585 Depp's request to appeal the verdict was rejected as two Lord Justices of the Court of Appeal concluded that "it is clear from a reading of the judgment as a whole that the judge based his conclusions on each of the incidents on his extremely detailed review of the evidence specific to each incident" and therefore that the appeal had "no real prospect of success." Following the initial ruling, Depp stepped down from his role in the Fantastic Beasts series at the request of Warner Bros. The case was seen as damaging to the reputations and careers of both Depp and Heard.
Background
Depp and Heard’s relationship
Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard began a relationship in around 2012 and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. Heard filed for divorce from Depp on 23 May 2016, and obtained a temporary restraining order against him, stating in her court declaration that he had been "verbally and physically abusive" throughout their relationship, usually while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. In response, Depp alleged that she was "attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse." Heard testified about the abuse under oath at a divorce court deposition. The divorce received a large amount of publicity, with alleged evidence, such as images of Heard's injuries, published by the media. A settlement was reached in August 2016, and the divorce was finalised in January 2017. Depp and Heard issued a joint statement saying that their "relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm." Depp paid Heard a settlement of US$7 million (£5 million), which she pledged to donate to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The settlement also included a non-disclosure agreement preventing either party from discussing their relationship publicly.
Depp's libel suit against News Group Newspapers and Dan Wootton On 27 April 2018, the UK tabloid The Sun published online an article titled: "GONE POTTY How Can J K Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?".Depp v NGN & Wootton (2020), Procedural history: paras. 6–44 The article referred to Depp's casting as Gellert Grindelwald, one of the main characters in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, based on a script by author J. K. Rowling. The online title originally described Depp as a "wife beater", but was changed shortly after publication and was never used in the printed version.
On 1 June 2018, Depp sued News Group News, the company publishing The Sun, and Dan Wootton for libel. He claimed that the aim of The Sun had been to convince their readers that he was a domestic abuser and to plea Rowling to drop him from the Fantastic Beasts film. Depp stated that he had initiated the lawsuit to clear his name, and alleged that Heard had instead been the aggressor in the relationship and had lied about being abused as part of a hoax. Depp's lawyers argued that many of the incidents presented by NGN were on a "she said – he said" basis, and that besides Heard, the only other first-hand witness for the alleged abuse was her sister.Opening statement – Depp, pp. 4, 20 Although admitting that he used alcohol and drugs, Depp's lawyers denied that this had any significance.Opening statement – Depp, p. 13
Depp's legal team further argued that Heard could not have been abused because she had stayed in the relationship without calling the police and had met with him once more even after filing for divorce and a restraining order.Opening statement – Depp, pp. 5–6; 10–11. Skeleton argument – Depp, p. 7 As their key evidence of a hoax, Depp's lawyers claimed that stylist Samantha McMillen, who dressed Heard for The Late Late Show with James Corden—filmed a day after an alleged violent incident in December 2015 (#12)—had not seen any injuries on her. They also alleged that following the May 2016 incident (#14), elevator CCTV footage from Heard and Depp's apartment building did not show her with injuries, and neither members of the apartment building staff nor the two LAPD officers who were called to Depp and Heard's apartment saw any physical injuries on Heard.Opening statement – Depp, pp. 17-24. Skeleton argument – Depp, pp. 5-14 As for NGN's allegation that Heard and Depp referred to Depp's behaviour while under the influence of alcohol or drugs as "the monster", Depp's lawyers stated that this had been misinterpreted.Opening statement – Depp, p. 8
As evidence of Heard's alleged violence, Depp's lawyers presented two recordings of the couple's private discussions where Heard appeared to admit to having hit Depp and thrown items at him.Opening statement – Depp, pp. 6–10. Skeleton Argument – Depp, pp. 6–14 The claim also relied on witness statements by three members of Depp's staff—Sean Bett, Kevin Murphy and Travis McGivern—who alleged to have witnessed Heard being verbally abusive towards Depp.Opening statement – Depp, pp. 6-10; Skeleton Argument – Depp, pp. 6-9 McGivern also stated that he had seen Heard throw items at Depp in March 2015. Depp's team claimed that the injury that Depp suffered to his finger in Australia in 2015 was caused by a bottle thrown by Heard. Furthermore, they claimed to have evidence that Heard was emotionally volatile, had had extramarital affairs, and that she was a habitual user of alcohol and drugs.Opening statement – Depp, pp. 13–16; skeleton argument – Depp, pp. 23–24 They also claimed that she was an unreliable witness.Opening statement – Depp, p. 17
Legal claims In their claim, Depp's lawyers stated that NGN and Wootton alleged in their article that Depp "was guilty, on overwhelming evidence, of serious domestic violence against his then wife, causing significant injury and leading to her fearing for her life, for which [Depp] was constrained to pay no less than £5 million to compensate her, and which resulted in him being subjected to a continuing restraining order; and for that reason is not fit to work in the film industry." His lawyers claimed that, as such, "the publication of the [online and hard copy] articles has caused serious harm to his personal and professional reputation", which could be inferred from:
The seriousness of the allegations; The huge extent of publication; The effect of accusations of violence against women in the context of the widely known #Me Too/Time's Up movements; The inclusion of quotes or purported quotes from women described as victims of Harvey Weinstein (the subject of high profile and serious criminal allegations); The very likely intended effect of the articles was to finish the claimant's career.
In addition, Depp claimed he was entitled to damages as the article did not mention that:
The temporary restraining order was no longer in effect; His denial of the allegations; That the LAPD police officers who visited Depp and Heard's home in May 2016 after an alleged abusive incident concluded no crime had been committed; That "the articles had misquoted and/or taken out of context remarks by Katherine Kendall, a #Me Too/Time's Up victim, and failed to correct the website article when Ms Kendall objected to being misquoted."
Defence presented by NGN and Wootton In their defence, NGN and Wootton argued that the articles reported the truth, stating that Depp "beat his wife Amber Heard causing her to suffer significant injury and on occasion leading to her fearing for her life. ... Throughout their relationship the Claimant was controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs." They presented 14 separate incidents on which they alleged that Depp had been violent towards Heard. They stated that Depp had a severe substance abuse disorder, which exacerbated his rage and caused him to have blackouts that made him unable to remember what he had done while intoxicated. They alleged that Depp referred to this side of him as "the monster" and that "in periods of sobriety following Mr Depp's destructive rages, he recognised the problems he faced, apologised to Ms Heard and blamed what he described as "his illness".Opening statement – NGN, p. 3 Furthermore, they accused Depp of misogyny, jealousy and controlling behaviour towards Heard.
NGN denied that this was a "she said – he said" case, instead stating that Heard's allegations were backed up by "witness testimony, medical evidence, photographs, video, audio recordings, digital evidence and Mr Depp's own texts" and that there were also many first-hand witnesses to his aggression. NGN stated that the fact the there were not many witnesses to the actual violence was because it had taken place behind closed doors, which is a common feature in domestic violence. NGN did allege that some violence had been witnessed by Depp's staff members, such as Stephen Deuters, but that they had later changed their statements to be more favourable to their employer.Opening statement – NGN, pp. 3-12 NGN contradicted Depp's claim that Samantha McMillen did not see any injuries on Heard, pointing out that in her witness statement, McMillen said that she had not seen any injuries herself, but that Heard had commented to her immediately after the taping of The Late Late Show about how her hair and makeup team had been successful in covering them up.Opening statement – NGN, pp. 9–10 NGN also alleged that ever since Heard filed for divorce in 2016, Depp had stated to other people that he wanted to end her career and to publicly humiliate her, and that his team had conducted a "campaign of vilification" against her.Opening statement – NGN, pp. 11–12 They stated that Depp was using old misogynistic tropes to discredit Heard, such as trying to portray her as "a gold-digger, a shrew and an adulterer".