Names and faces
■ Johnny Depp lost his high-stakes libel case Monday against The Sun tabloid newspaper for labeling him a “wife-beater,” as a British judge said he believed the actor had abused ex-wife Amber Heard to such an extent that she frequently feared for her life. In a decision widely cheered by campaigners against domestic abuse, Justice Andrew Nicol said the defendants proved during the trial in London that their allegations against Depp were “substantially true.” Depp’s lawyers said it would be “ridiculous” if the actor didn’t appeal the decision. Over the course of nearly three weeks, Nicol heard conflicting accounts from Depp and Heard in which each accused the other of abuse. Depp, 57, sued News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that accused him of assaulting fellow actor Heard, 34. The ruling deals a blow to Depp’s reputation that could imperil his career, which has seen the actor take the lead in popular family movies, from “Edward Scissorhands” to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. Depp also faces several millions of dollars in added legal costs following Monday’s ruling. An attorney for Heard said the verdict was “not a surprise” for anyone who followed the trial. At the heart of the Sun’s characterization of Depp as a “wife-beater” were allegations the actor assaulted Heard 14 times in locations around the world. The judge found that 12 of the 14 instances of domestic violence had occurred. The Sun called the decision a “stunning victory for press freedom.”
■ Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the U.S. National Security Agency, said Monday that he and his wife intend to apply for Russian citizenship without renouncing their U.S. citizenship. Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the United States after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programs. He was granted permanent residency last
month, his Russian lawyer said. Snowden’s wife, Lindsay Mills, an American who has been living with him in Russia, announced last week that the couple are expecting a child. According to Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, the child, a boy, will be born in December and will have Russian citizenship. “After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That’s why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual U.S.-Russian citizenship,” Snowden said in a tweet Monday. Snowden will be able to get a Russian passport without renouncing his U.S. nationality after Russia earlier this year relaxed its strict citizenship laws that had required foreigners to renounce other nationalities in order to get Russian citizenship.