Johnny Depp Loses ‘Wife Beater’ Libel Case, Judge Also Shoots Down Claim Amber Heard Defecated on Their Bed
Johnny Depp lost his court case against the British newspaper that called him a "wife-beater" in a 2018 article.
Depp sued News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in The Sun with the headline “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”
Judge Andrew Nicol from the Royal Courts of Justice in London ruled against Depp, stating that he believes The Sun's piece to be "substantially true" and that there is “overwhelming evidence” that he assaulted actress Amber Heard repeatedly during their marriage.
In the 129-page ruling, Judge Nicol said, “I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp have been proved to the civil standard.”
Over the years, Depp has come forward with his own evidence that Heard was the alleged abuser in their relationship.
In 2016, Heard had a birthday party at their apartment and Depp allegedly showed up late and ultimately bailed. The following day, their maid called him to say that she had found feces in their bed. Depp claims it was Heard who did it as a way to "get back” at him for not attending her party.
Under a section headlined “feces on the bed,” Judge Nicol said that Depp insisted the supposed poop attack was relevant to the ruling because it “led him to conclude that his marriage to Ms. Heard could not continue” and sparked one of their many fights.
The British judge closely analyzed the shocking claims that the actress defecated in their marital bed and ruled that the poop in question likely came from her dog.
“For what it is worth, I consider that it is unlikely that Ms. Heard or one of her friends was responsible,” the judge concluded of the poop, photos of which were shown in court as evidence.
He also noted evidence that one of Heard’s dogs, Boo, “had an incomplete mastery of her bowels after she had accidentally consumed some marijuana.”
Depp and Heard met on the set of The Rum Diaries and were married from 2015 to 2017. Heard filed for divorce in 2016 and obtained a restraining order against Depp, alleging he was physically and verbally abusive to her. In 2019, Depp sued Heard for defamation over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post about sexual violence.