The latest chapter in the Hollywood star’s legal battle Johnny Depp with the ex-wife Amber Heard began this Monday (11), when a US defamation trial began over allegations Heard made about domestic abuse.
Depp, 58, sued Heard for $50 million, saying she defamed him when she wrote a 2018 op-ed in the “Washington Post” about being a survivor of domestic abuse.
The editorial never mentioned Depp by name, but Depp’s lawyers said it was clear that Heard was referring to him and that the play damaged his film career and reputation.
Depp has denied all allegations of abuse, saying in his lawsuit that Amber’s allegations were a “hoax designed to generate positive publicity for Ms. Heard and advance your career.”
Juror selection begins this Monday in the case.
Depp wants the Fairfax County jury to find that Amber knowingly made false allegations.
The actress, for her part, will argue that she is protected, or “immune”, from liability because her 2018 editorial on domestic violence dealt with a matter of public interest.
On Saturday (9), Amber posted on her Instagram profile that she would step away from social media at this time as she will be in Virginia following the case. She stated that she “never named him” in the Washington Post editorial, only told of her experience of domestic violence and abuse.
“I wrote about the price women pay speaking out against men in power. I will continue to pay that price, but hopefully when this case is over, I can move on and so can Johnny. I have always held a love for Johnny, and it brings me great pain, having to relive the details of our lives spent together in front of the world,” she wrote.
The Washington Post is not a defendant in the trial.
The US trial comes less than two years after Depp lost a defamation case against “The Sun”, a British tabloid that branded him a “wife beater”.
The United States is a difficult forum for libel authors, especially public figures like Depp, who faces a number of obstacles in the Virginia case. Depp must prove by clear and convincing evidence that Amber Heard knowingly made false claims.
Under English defamation law, the person prosecuted has the burden of proving that his allegations were true.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard met while making “Diary of a Drunken Journalist” in 2011 and got married four years later. The actress accused Depp of domestic abuse after filing for divorce in 2016.
The actor rose to Hollywood stardom in the 1990s with portrayals of loners and strangers in cult classics like John Waters’ “Cry-Baby” and Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands.”
He became a household name with Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, playing fan favorite Jack Sparrow.
Amber Heard, 35, is known for her roles in “Aquaman” and “Justice League.” She filed her own defamation charge against Depp, saying he defamed her by calling her a liar.
Amber’s counterclaim will be decided as part of the trial, which could last six weeks. She is seeking $100 million in damages from Depp, according to court documents.
In her evidence to the London High Court, Amber said that Depp turned into a jealous alter ego, “the monster”, after using drugs and alcohol, and that he threatened to kill her.
She detailed 14 instances of extreme violence when she said the actor smothered her, punched, slapped, headbutted, strangled and kicked her. The London judge accepted 12 of these accounts as true.
Following the November 2020 ruling in the London libel trial, Depp was replaced by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen in the third installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, a spin-off of the “Harry Potter” books and films.
Source: CNN Brasil
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