Irates of the Caribbean
Actor Depp loses bid to block his ex from libel court
WARRING stars Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard will come face to face in court this week, a judge ruled yesterday.
They will appear at London’s High Court on Tuesday where Depp is suing The Sun newspaper over an allegation that he beat the actress.
Pirates of the Caribbean star Depp, 57, claims he was libelled when The Sun described him as a
“wife beater” in 2018.
Mr Justice Andrew
Nicol ruled Heard would be allowed in court when Depp gives evidence.
The actor had asked that his ex was not present while he testified but the judge ruled it would be “unfair” and “inhibit… the conduct of their defence”.
Heard is claiming Depp hit and choked her while in the grip of addictions to drugs and alcohol.
Depp’s team say that Heard made up her accounts of assault and say she assaulted him.
The pre-trial hearing has been told explosive claims including Depp allegedly begged his assistant for “happy pills” and “whitey stuff” – which lawyers claim meant ecstasy and cocaine – days before he allegedly assaulted his wife.
And in another claim Heard, 34, is called a “Gone Girl” – a reference to the 2012 thriller by Gillian Flynn in which a wife goes missing and leaves a trail of faked evidence which frames her husband for her murder.
Depp and Heard met in 2011 when she played his love interest in the film The Rum Diary.
They were romantically linked in June 2012, just as Depp was splitting from singer Vanessa Paradis, 47, his partner of 14 years.
Heard and Depp married in February 2015. In May that year she filed a restraining order against Depp, saying she was “extremely afraid” of him. Allegations surfaced that he had hit her – and she appeared in public with a bruised face.
Their divorce was finalised in early 2017, with Heard receiving a £5.3million settlement.
The court will scrutinise a series of alleged altercations between the pair during their marriage.