Depp challenges 'The Sun' verdict, approaches UK Court of appeal
The fight between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is far from over. He has now applied to Britain's court of appeal to contest the high court verdict in a defamation case involving his ex-wife Amber Heard. The judge, who focused on 2018 The Sun article where the actor was termed a "wife-beater," had said "claimant (Depp) has not succeeded in his action for libel."
The Court of Appeal is second only to The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. It is segregated into civil and criminal divisions and accepts hearing of cases that had their verdicts in lower courts and tribunals. The Court of Appeal is located at Royal Courts of Justice, London. The court, created in 1875, currently has 39 Lord/Lady Justices of Appeal.
Depp suffered a humiliating defeat in his case against The Sun. Justice Andrew Nicol's 132-page ruling against the Pirates of the Caribbean actor stated that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence explained by the defendants in the case have been proved true. Depp uploaded his statement on social media, calling the UK court's judgment "surreal," and that he will appeal later.
The star has lost more than just a high-profile case. Soon after the verdict, Warner Bros. asked Depp to resign from his role of Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter prequel series Fantastic Beasts. The role has now been passed on to Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen. Depp's remuneration in the film Minamata also took a serious beating due to another lawsuit filed against him.
Minamata, a film in which Depp plays a war photographer investigating the effects of mercury poisoning in coastal Japan, paid him $3mn as remuneration, a rate downsized from double its amount decided before. This happened after a crew member on the film City of Lies filed a lawsuit against Depp, alleging that the actor was intoxicated and punched him twice on set.
