Depp’s lawyers cry foul
Johnny Depp’s attorneys say that ex-wife Amber Heard didn’t donate all of her $7 million divorce settlement to charity as she claimed.
Lawyers for Johnny Depp told Britain’s Court of Appeal Thursday that the actor’s ex-wife, Amber Heard, did not donate all of her $7 million divorce settlement to charity as she claimed, part of arguments seeking to overturn a ruling that the actor assaulted Heard during the couple’s marriage.
The Hollywood star is seeking permission to appeal a High Court ruling in November, when he lost his libel lawsuit against The Sun newspaper for labeling him a “wife beater” in an article.
High Court Justice Andrew Nicol ruled that lawyers for Sun publisher News Group Newspapers proved during the trial that the allegations against Depp, made in a April 2018 article, were “substantially true.”
The judge ruled that Depp, 57, assaulted Heard, 34, on a dozen occasions and put her in fear for her life three times.
On Thursday, Depp’s lawyers argued for an appeal, saying Depp did not receive a fair trial. Neither Depp nor Heard were present.
Lawyer Andrew Caldecott said in written submissions that Heard’s claims she donated the entire amount of her $7-million divorce settlement to two charities were a “calculated and manipulative lie.“The claims gave Heard a “considerable boost to her credibility as a person,“and had “tipped the scales against Mr. Depp from the very beginning,“Caldecott argued.
Caldecott also argued that Nicol, the High Court judge, should have placed more importance on recordings in which Heard appeared to admit to assaulting Depp.
Lawyers for The Sun’s publisher rejected the arguments. She had made “a number of payments already in pursuance of these pledges,“said Adam Wolanski, representing News Group Newspapers.
Wolanski added that “even if the judge had had the fresh evidence and decided it did demonstrate that Ms. Heard was a gold-digger,” that did not mean she had not been assaulted.
— Associated Press
Black editor of Teen Vogue resigns
Saying her past anti-asian and homophobic tweets have overshadowed her work, Alexi Mccammond said Thursday that she and publisher Conde Nast have decided to part ways at Teen Vogue.
“I should not have tweeted what I did and I have taken full responsibility for that,” the journalist said in a statement posted on social media. “I look at my work and growth in the years since, and have redoubled my commitment to growing in the years to come as both a person and as a professional.”
Mccammond, who is Black, was tapped as the incoming editor in chief to replace Lindsay Peoples Wagner, but the tweets from when she was a teenager and college student in 2011 resurfaced after the appointment was announced.
Mccammond, 27, was appointed earlier this month by the digital-only Teen Vogue. She had worked as a political journalist in Washington for Axios and was an on-air contributor for MSNBC. — New York Times
School pays teacher big-ly for Trump task
A New Jersey school district is paying $325,000 to a former New Jersey teacher who claimed she was forced to digitally edit a Donald Trump T-shirt worn by a student in a yearbook photo.
The Wall Township school board approved the settlement agreement with Susan Parsons, NJ Advance Media reported. The district made no admission of wrongdoing or liability.
Parsons was the high school’s yearbook adviser when she said a secretary acting on behalf of the principal ordered her in 2017 to remove “Trump Make America Great Again” and make it appear as if the student was wearing a plain navy blue T-shirt.
Parsons will receive about $204,000 and the remainder of the settlement will cover attorney fees. — Associated Press
Bongino launches show in Limbaugh slot
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino has joined a scramble to inherit the radio talk show mantle left behind by the death of Rush Limbaugh.
Cumulus Media’s Westwood One said Bongino will begin a new radio program from noon to 3 p.m., the same time slot Limbaugh occupied before his death due to lung cancer in February. Bongino’s news and opinion show will launch May 24.
That is setting off a race to offer an alternative in that time slot, said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine. Dana Loesch and Erick Erickson are among the personalities being bandied about, he said.