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Johnny Depp's defamation case against Amber Heard is going ahead

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Johnny Depp has been granted permission to proceed with his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard.

The actor was allowed by a Virginia judge to pursue his case against his ex-wife, suing her for defamation over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she wrote about surviving domestic violence.

Court documents were released yesterday (August 17), according to PEOPLE, denying Heard’s request to dismiss the case – first filed in March 2019 – following Depp’s loss of his libel lawsuit against The Sun.

Depp had attempted to sue the newspaper after they had referred to him as a “wife beater” in an article from April 2018.

Amber Heard
Amber Heard (Photo by Lawrence Busacca/Getty Images for L’Oréal)

The trial originally took place over 16 days back in July 2020 at the Royal Courts of Justice, and concerned an article titled ‘Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?’

In a ruling from last November, Judge Mr Justice Nicol said that he found the words to be “substantially true”.

Earlier this week, Johnny Depp said he believes he is being boycotted by Hollywood in light of his personal circumstances, as his latest film is yet to be released in the US.

Discussing Minimata, which follows photojournalist W. Eugene Smith (played by Depp) as he documents the effects of industrial pollution on Minamata residents in the ’70s, the actor told The Times he believes the industry is taking note of his “unpleasant and messy situation”.

“Some films touch people… and this affects those in Minamata and people who experience similar things,” he said.

“And for anything… for Hollywood’s boycott of, erm, me? One man, one actor in an unpleasant and messy situation, over the last number of years?”

The Times claims the interview is the first Depp has given following his libel case against News Group Newspapers.

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