Johnny Depp’s permission to appeal wife-beater case revoked

Johnny Depp has been refused permission to appeal after losing his libel action against The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.” A high court judge also ordered the actor to make an initial payment to The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), of almost £630,000 in legal fees, reported The Guardian.

Depp, 57, brought legal action over a column by the newspaper’s executive editor Dan Wootton which referred to “overwhelming evidence” that he had attacked his ex-wife Amber Heard, 34, during their relationship. In the initial ruling earlier this month, Justice Nicol dismissed his claim, saying NGN had proved what was in the article to be “substantially true.” 

It has now emerged Nicol refused Depp permission to appeal against his judgment, saying, “I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success.” He gave Depp until December 7 to apply directly to the court of appeal to overturn his judgment and pay NGN’s legal fees.

In his main judgment published earlier this month, Nicol found that Depp assaulted Heard on a dozen occasions, putting her in “fear for her life” during three of them. He found that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence relied on by NGN did occur. He said, “A recurring theme in Mr Depp’s evidence was that Ms Heard had constructed a hoax and that she had done this as an ‘insurance policy’ and was a ‘gold-digger.’ I do not accept this.”

Depp denied having been violent to Heard. NGN defended the article as true and said Depp was “controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Heard, particularly when under the influence.

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