Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard will go to trial in Virginia after she lost an appeal to have the defamation action dismissed prior to trial.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor is suing Heard in a $50m (£40m) defamation lawsuit after the actor claimed she was a survivor of domestic violence perpetrated by Depp.
Although she did not name Depp in the article he is arguing the article clearly implies he’s a “domestic abuser” which is “categorically and demonstrably false.”
Depp has cited four statements Heard made in the op-ed which he beliweves were libelous:
The article’s title, “Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”
“I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
“I write this as a woman who had to change my phone number weekly because I was getting death threats. For months, I rarely left my apartment, and when I did, I was pursued by camera drones and photographers on foot, on motorcycles and in cars.
“Tabloid outlets that posted pictures of me spun them in a negative light. I felt as though I was on trial in the court of public opinion — and my life and livelihood depended on myriad judgments far beyond my control.”
On Friday Fairfax County Chief Judge Bruce delivered a lengthy opinion letter in which he ruled that the first three are actionable under a theory of defamation by implication.
A lawyer for Head spoke to Yahoo on Friday and reportedly said;
“Today’s decision leaves it to a jury to decide the meaning of Ms. Heard’s op-ed and the truth of what she said. As we have said all along, the courts have strong mechanisms in place for determining the truth,” said attorney Roberta Kaplan.
“Here, we remain confident that Ms. Heard will prevail at trial when the jury is presented with evidence on the question that the Court identified — namely, whether ‘Ms. Heard was abused by Mr. Depp.’”
Depp has said the allegations by heard caused him financial hardships as his image as an abuser lost him a spot on the Disney’s planned Pirates of the Caribbean reboot.
Heard is embroiled in another lawsuit with Depp over in London.
The actor is suing News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Sun, over a 2018 story that called him a “wife beater.”
Heard is set to testify, but the trial was delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
