Judge rules in favour of Johnny Depp, Amber Heard fails to get $50M defamation suit tossed

Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has been news ever since his ugly divorce with Amber Heard. The two have accused each other of physical and verbal assault. In new turns of events, a Virginia judge on Wednesday ruled in favour of Depp in a $50-million defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber.

The ‘Aquaman’ star is already pursuing $100 million counterclaim and she attempted a Hail Mary move in April to have the judge dismiss the two-year old case. She based her claim on her ex-husband losing a libel trial in the UK late last year against Rupert Murdoch’s The judge said the court was not persuaded by defendant’s argument.

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After the judgement, Depp’s lawyer said he was most gratified by the court’s decision.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard tied the knot in 2015, eventually splitting in 2016 in what became a months-long breakup with allegations of domestic abuse and violence by both sides before their divorce was finally settled. The actor has, however, denied the allegations.

In November last year, Depp lost a libel lawsuit against the publishers of the British tabloid newspaper The Sun, which had called him a “wife-beater”. Judge Andrew Nicol dismissed the actor’s claim after three weeks of revelations about the couple’s stormy relationship, saying the article had been proven to be “substantially true”. He was also asked to resign from his role in WarnerBros’ ‘Fantastic Beasts’.

A New York judge, earlier this month, ruled that Depp could conduct a determination if his ex-wife really did donate a portion of their $7 million divorce settlement to the ACLU, as she has widely proclaimed.

The Virginia matter will go to trial in April 2022 after being delayed on numerous occasions due to the pandemic.