Johnny Depp Responds To Judge's Denial Of His Appeal In "Wife Beater' Libel Case

Amber · March 27, 2021

Last week (March 20), we reported that Johnny Depp was seeking a retrial in his libel case against The Sun newspaper over an article that referred to the actor as a "wife-beater." Losing the original case back in November of 2020, the basis of Depp's appeal in court was that his ex-wife, who had pledged to donate $7 million of the divorce settlement to charity and was the star witness in the case, had failed to do so. Calling the donation story a "calculated and manipulative lie," he aimed to discredit Heard as a witness in the retrial. Ultimately, the court disagreed and upheld the judge's decision.

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In a statement obtained by The Blast from the 57-year-old's attorney Joelle Rich. "The evidence presented at last week's hearing (the appeal of Mr. Depp vs. News Group Newspapers LTD) further demonstrates that there are clear and objective reasons to seriously question the decision reached in the UK court," Rich says.

She adds, "Mr. Depp looks forward to presenting the complete, irrefutable evidence of the truth in the US libel case against Ms. Heard where she will have to provide full disclosure."

Amber's legal team also released a statement regarding Depp's appeal getting denied, adding the actress was "pleased" and "not surprised" by the court's decision.

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Although the court disagreed with Depp's legal argument, sources close to Depp continue to point to evidence that Heard is an unreliable witness. "It's important to note again that Heard did not personally donate any money to the Children’s Hospital," the source close to Depp told The Blast.

The source continued, "The hospital was paid $100k by [Depp] directly, but no further payments were made by Heard. Additionally, as Ms. Heard was not obligated to put forth all necessary documents, significant facts which strongly dispute the many false and unsubstantiated claims against Mr. Depp were dismissed or ignored."