Amber Heard claimed in court that Johnny Depp subjected her to repeated violence and abuse
Credit: Simon Dawson/Reuters
It is a case that has been called the libel trial of the century, but even if Johnny Depp wins his claim on Monday his battle to save his reputation is still not over.
Because no matter what decision is made by Mr Justice Nicol in the Hollywood star’s libel action against The Sun for calling him a “wife beater”, he still faces paying more than $3 million (£2.3m) in separate legal costs in the US courts in an attempt to clear his name.
It is estimated that Mr Depp is already having to pay upwards of £1.5 million in legal fees in the case he brought against the Sun’s publishers NGN and its associate editor Dan Wootton over an article in April 2018 describing him as a “wife beater”.
NGN has also spent an estimated £1.5 million defending their case.
It means that whoever Mr Justice Nicol finds against in the Royal Courts of Justice may end up with a £3million bill.
But the cost of clearing his name may become steeper yet, as Mr Depp is also suing Ms Heard in the US state of Virginia over an opinion piece she wrote for the Washington Post in 2018, in which she called herself the survivor of domestic abuse.
Lawyers have estimated that each side will face legal fees of $3m (£2.3m) or more, but unlike in the UK, those in US courts pay their own legal fees regardless of outcome.
The article did not refer to Mr Depp directly, but he claims that the 34-year-old actress “is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator”.
Mr Depp, 57, also alleges that her article cost him the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
Johnny Depp arrives to the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 16 July 2020. Depp is suing The Sun's newspaper publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over claims he abused his ex-wife, US actress Amber Heard
Credit: WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The actor is seeking $50m in damages from his former wife, and while he is unlikely to win such a sum, even a fraction of that amount could cover the costs of both UK and US trials.
Legal experts say Depp appears to be determined to go to court to defend his reputation against allegations of verbal and physical abuse, whatever the cost.
The painfully detailed proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice this summer threatened to forever tarnish Depp’s image, with claims he was responsible for bouts of drug fuelled violence and psychological attacks on Ms Heard.
Steven Heffer, Head of Media & Privacy at Collyer Bristow, told The Telegraph: "It all turns on who is to be believed. The parties have given entirely different accounts of what occurred in what would normally be their private lives. Depp’s reputation is very much at stake.
“He has brought the claim to salvage his career after allegations of domestic abuse and wife-beating. The judgment will I think be much worse for Depp if it goes against him, but will potentially have serious repercussions for Amber Heard if The Sun publishers lose the case.
Mr Heffer added: "Depp may wonder whether he made the right choice in taking the case to trial. He might have opted instead for making a public statement denying the allegations – or simply ignored them, but with comments this serious that may not have been enough to limit the damage to his reputation and career. He may have expected the matter to settle before trial as most of these cases do."
With the stakes so high on both sides of the Atlantic Mr Depp appears determined to obtain a court ruling that will clear his name once and for all.
Mark Sableman, of St Louis-based Thompson Coburn, told this newspaper that if Mr Depp wins in Virginia court it could “truly vindicate’ him”.
“If Ms. Heard’s allegations are false, and if they are so proven in a libel case, where the scales are tipped in favor of the defendant, particularly in the context of today’s “Me-too” consciousness, it could truly vindicate Mr. Depp,” he said.
Johnny Depp jokes with Amber Heard as they arrive for the UK premiere of the film 'Mortdecai' in London on January 19, 2015
Credit: AFP/LEON NEAL
But a number of senior legal figures question the wisdom of Mr Depp pressing ahead with the case in the US courts.
Mark Stephens CBE, of London-based law firm Howard Kennedy, said: “It’s almost a desire for mutually assured destruction. If he wins in London Johnny Depp runs the reputational risk of being accused of bullying her because it looks vindictive.”
He added: ‘I think everybody likes a Hollywood bad boy and to some extent hell raising is something that the public forgives. What they don’t forgive is allegations of assault against women. If he has a finding that he beat a woman it’s going to make visas very difficult and make him not particularly popular at the box office.”
Alan Lewis, of New York-based Carter Ledyard & Milburn, warned the American case will be fought with very different rules than the one which played out in London.
Discovery, the process under which each side exchanges documents, is far broader in the US – meaning that lawyers for both sides can poke around in any aspect of the other person’s life.
The case could also be heard before a jury as opposed to a judge and there is a higher standard of proof that Mr Depp must convince the court of than in the UK.
Mr Lewis said: “If he were a client, we’d say ‘Johnny there’s a fair chance you will have to prove actual malice, you’ll have to prove she’s lying and fabricated all of these accusations against you’. That is a significant burden to bear
“If he succeeds then that’s worth a lot in reputational rehabilitation. It’s arguably more than the win in the UK – where he doesn’t get a court to determine it has been proven the allegations were false, only that the publisher didn’t prove them to be true.”
The case was due to go to trial in January next year but has been delayed until May, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic and partly because Ms Heard is filming Aquaman 2 in February, although Mr Depp is scheduled to give a three day deposition starting on November 10, midway though filming Fantastic Beasts 3.
Recent Comments