Johnny Depp, the American actor, on Thursday was denied permission to challenge the ruling of a British court that he had assaulted his former wife Amber Heard.
Stating that the claim was “substantially true”, the British High Court’s Justice Andrew Nicol in November 2020 dismissed the actor’s libel claim against the UK tabloid The Sun, which called him a “wife-beater” in an article published in April 2018.
Justice Nicol also found that Depp had been violent toward Heard on at least 12 of the 14 alleged occasions. According to Heard, Depp had put her “in fear of her life” during the three-day hostage in Australia in March 2015.
In a bid to overturn the order, when the actor asked the court of appeal to allow him to challenge the ruling, Lord Justice Underhill and Lord Justice Dingemans denied him the permission to do so.
Yes Mr Waldman, I may be wearing makeup on this occasion but on every occasion you will still be short.
— Amber Heard (@realamberheard) March 26, 2021
According to a report by The Guardian, the court refused to admit further evidence in support of his proposed appeal as it has no real prospect of success and that there is no other compelling reason for it to be heard.
Lord Justice Underhill and Lord Justice Dingemans concluded by saying that the hearing before Justice Nicol was full and fair, and he gave thorough reasons for his conclusions which have not been shown even arguably to be vitiated by any error of approach or mistake of law.
After the hearing, a spokesperson for The Sun said that they were confident that Depp would be denied permission to appeal. A spokesperson of Heard said, “Mr Depp’s claim of new and important evidence was nothing more than a press strategy, and has been soundly rejected by the court.”
Recommended
In November 2020, after losing the libel case against The Sun, Depp announced that he has stepped down from the role of Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts film franchise, a spin-off Harry Potter film franchise.
The Warner Bros studio had also confirmed that Depp’s role will be recast.
In 2017, Johnny Depp’s bitter war with his ex-managers had taken an ugly turn, with the actor’s former managers calling him a “habitual liar.”