The venomous divorce of film stars Johnny Depp and Amber Heard continues six years later by different means, now in a $50 million (or extra) libel trial that opened Monday in Fairfax County, Virginia, outdoors Washington, D.C.
Name it Depp v Heard, Half II, starring Depp, 58, and Heard, 35, stay on the witness stand, with co-starring roles for witnesses, by way of video, comparable to British film star Paul Bettany (for Depp) and American movie star James Franco and mega-billionaire Elon Musk (for Heard).
On Monday afternoon, a panel of 11 – seven jurors and 4 alternates – was picked, based on Courtroom TV, which is broadcasting the trial. Opening statements within the case had been scheduled for Tuesday.
Heard shared an announcement on Instagram the weekend earlier than the trial, letting followers know she can be “offline for the subsequent a number of weeks” whereas in Virginia.
“Johnny is suing me for an op-ed I wrote within the Washington Publish, wherein I recounted my expertise of violence and home abuse,” she wrote within the put up, shared Saturday. “I by no means named him, quite I wrote in regards to the value girls pay for talking out in opposition to males in energy. I proceed to pay that value, however hopefully when this case concludes, I can transfer on and so can Johnny. I’ve at all times maintained a love for Johnny and it brings me nice ache to must stay out the small print of our previous life collectively in entrance of the world.”
Why is Johnny Depp suing Amber Heard?
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, alleging she defamed him in an opinion column she printed within the Washington Publish (which is printed in Fairfax County) in December 2018. Within the column, she claimed to be a sufferer of home abuse, a declare she first raised throughout their corrosive divorce continuing in 2016 in Los Angeles.
Heard by no means proved she was abused as a result of their divorce was settled out of courtroom within the midst of a media uproar. And the settlement assertion they collectively issued mentioned partially: “Neither get together has made false accusations for monetary achieve. There was by no means any intent of bodily or emotional hurt. Amber needs the very best for Johnny sooner or later.”
(The settlement referred to as for Depp to pay her $7 million, which she promised to donate to charity. That, too, is a supply of rivalry between them about whether or not she did.)
Greater than two years glided by earlier than Heard printed her column, catching the wave of the 2017 MeToo motion. The column left the robust impression, with out mentioning Depp’s identify, that she was an abuse sufferer as a result of she was crushed throughout her risky 15-month marriage to Depp.
Depp and his former lawyer angrily denounced Heard’s claims, then filed go well with in March 2019. “Ms. Heard shouldn’t be a sufferer of home abuse, she is a perpetrator,” Depp’s go well with declared.
Heard countersued Depp for $100 million, alleging she was defamed by public statements by Depp’s former lawyer wherein the phrases “faux” and “hoax” had been tossed round.
Each lawsuits would be the topic of this trial earlier than Chief Choose Penney Azcarateof the Fairfax County Circuit Courtroom. A former Marine, the choose has put aside as much as six weeks for the trial – until it’s settled on the final minute on the courthouse steps, and even in the course of the trial, which isn’t unusual in Virginia.
The choose additionally allowed a video digicam within the courtroom, believed to be the primary time in Fairfax County, Virginia’s largest and most populated county. The trial is being televised by way of Courtroom TV and Courtroom TV’s on-line web site, starting on Tuesday.
The Fairfax courtroom was closed to the general public Monday, with restricted closed-circuit entry in an overflow courtroom. Folks lined up earlier than 7 a.m. for the wristbands granting entry. Reporters can cowl the trial in individual however with pen and paper solely – no digital units.
Each Depp and Heard had been in attendance, however courtroom personnel introduced them out and in using particular entry factors that annoyed followers’ capability to see them. “I am so dissatisfied. I got here to provide him flowers to point out some assist,” mentioned Raylyn Otie, a Depp fan from Bluefield, Virginia, who drove 5 hours to see the film star.
Azcarate has imposed a sequence of entry guidelines to attempt to preserve decorum within the courthouse. Most importantly, neither Depp nor Heard are permitted to pose for images or signal autographs within the courthouse or on the courthouse grounds.
And in case film followers had been pondering of staking out the courthouse, do not: There might be no in a single day “tenting” allowed on courthouse grounds and “additional measures” might be taken if foot or car visitors all through the judicial advanced will get out of hand because of the trial, the choose’s order says.
Shortly earlier than jury choice started Monday, a small crowd of Depp followers gathered outdoors the courthouse, some carrying indicators saying “Justice for Johnny” and “Want He By no means Heard” with an image of Heard.
Depp and Heard arrived individually earlier than 10 a.m.; he was in a three-piece gray go well with, she was in a black jacket, based on pictures posted on Twitter by Court TV.
Did Johnny Depp already sue for libel?
If all of this sounds vaguely acquainted, that is as a result of it’s, form of, because of Depp vs Heard, Half I. That libel case occurred in a London courtroom in the summertime of 2020, after Depp sued the writer of The Solar tabloid for defaming him (by labeling him a “spouse beater” with out including “accused”). Heard was the tabloid’s star witness.
Depp misplaced. Following a three-week trial risible and appalling in equal measure, the British choose dominated The Solar had not libeled Depp as a result of “the good majority” of Heard’s claims that Depp repeatedly assaulted her earlier than and through their marriage could possibly be “proved to the civil commonplace.” Depp subsequently misplaced makes an attempt to enchantment the choice.
Since then, his massively profitable film profession, particularly because the star of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, has taken successful: Amongst different issues, after the London trial he was requested to resign his starring function in “Incredible Beasts” resulting from “latest occasions,” and he later bemoaned being “boycotted” by Hollywood in an interview with London’s Sunday Instances (a part of the identical Rupert Murdoch-owned publishing group as The Solar).
Heard’s profession has not been as affected – she’s in a second “Aquaman” movie scheduled for launch subsequent yr – however her profession was by no means as large as Depp’s.
However the U.Ok trial left each Depp and Heard bruised within the public relations sense given the tabloid-style testimony about their violent, shrieking rows, infinite consumption of medication and drink, wild punches and flying projectiles, trashed rooms and a lopped off fingertip.
English legislation on libel, defamation and press freedom will not be an actual match to Virginia legislation, and the English case concerned a person suing a writer, not indignant ex-spouses suing one another.
(Due to U.S. Supreme Courtroom precedent, it is a lot more durable for celebrities to sue the press within the U.S. than in Britain: Depp didn’t sue The Washington Publish nor did Heard sue any publication that reported on the statements she objects to.)
When Heard tried to get Depp’s lawsuit dismissed in Virginia (she tried 3 times), one of many causes she cited was that he had misplaced the British case and thus had no Virginia case.
She misplaced. Choose Azcarate mentioned her argument for dismissal failed underneath well-established authorized precedents governing when civil instances might be dismissed. “If something, upholding English libel judgments in america would create the chilling impact and will create a harmful precedent,” she dominated.
A Fairfax choose additionally dominated that Depp was inside his rights to convey the case to Virginia as a result of the Publish’s on-line editions are printed by servers situated in Fairfax County.
However Azcarate dominated in Heard’s favor final month when she agreed Heard can argue to a jury that she ought to be shielded from Depp’s lawsuit as a result of her column on home violence handled a matter of public curiosity and thus could possibly be shielded underneath Virginia legislation. That does not imply Heard has immunity for what she wrote, solely that she will be able to make that public curiosity argument as a part of her protection.
Each side’ witness lists comprise names of people that got here up on the London trial. Actor Bettany, a buddy of Depp’s, is predicted to testify about textual content messages he exchanged with Depp about Heard. Franco, a buddy, and Musk, a former boyfriend of Heard’s, could also be requested about their relationships together with her.
However the focus of the trial in suburban Washington is predicted to rehash what Depp and Heard allegedly mentioned and did to one another simply earlier than their divorce continuing exploded in headlines in 2016, reverberating by Hollywood, the media and later a overseas courtroom.
It started on the night time of Might 21, 2016, when Heard claimed Depp attacked her and beat her face with a cellphone of their luxurious loft in downtown Los Angeles. She filed for divorce two days later, confirmed up for courtroom with a visual bruise on her proper cheek, and used the declare she was crushed to get a restraining order in opposition to Depp, who was overseas on the time.
Heard’s authorized and PR groups instructed reporters that Los Angeles cops who responded to the loft would again her up, however they did not. The officers didn’t see any accidents, their bodycams confirmed the loft was not in disarray, Heard didn’t wish to file a police report, they usually concluded it wasn’t warranted as a result of no crime occurred.
Home abuse is a criminal offense in each the U.S. and in Britain, and Depp has not been convicted of that crime in both nation. As a substitute, he misplaced a civil go well with wherein a writer needed to exhibit to a choose that the preponderance of the proof introduced on the trial allowed the tabloid to name him a “spouse beater” and never be punished by paying Depp damages .
Within the Virginia case, the events must show to a jury that what both has mentioned or written in regards to the different quantities to defamation in Virginia by the preponderance of the proof introduced on the trial.
Nevertheless it’s a civil continuing. Regardless of the result, nobody might be convicted of a criminal offense.
Contributing: Matthew Barakat, The Related Press
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard trial: The whole lot to find out about libel case
