IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Judge rejects tabloid’s bid to throw out Depp libel suit
LONDON » A British judge on Thursday rejected an attempt by tabloid newspaper to quash a libel suit from actor Johnny Depp over an article claiming he abused ex-wife Amber Heard.
Judge Andrew Nicol said “in my view it would not be just to strike out the claim.”
The ruling means the two celebrities and their large legal teams will square off next week at the High Court in London.
Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, met on the set of the 2011 comedy “The Rum Diary” and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. They divorced in 2017.
Depp is suing publisher, News Group Newspapers, and Executive Editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article claiming the actor was violent and abusive to Heard. He strongly denies the allegations.
lawyers applied for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that Depp failed to disclose text messages he exchanged with an assistant showing that he tried to buy “MDMA and other narcotics” while he was in Australia with Heard in 2015.
Photos and text from The Associated Press
Sir Patrick Stewart is writing memoir, publisher announces
NEW YORK » Nearing his 80th birthday, Sir Patrick Stewart is finally ready for the project he once feared taking on — his memoir.
The award-winning actor best known as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” has a deal with Gallery Books for a “revealing and heartwarming look” into his life and times, the publisher announced. A title and release date will be determined later.
“The idea of writing a memoir based on my life and career has been in my mind for several years, but always the demands of work have pushed it into the background,” Stewart, who turns 80 on July 13, said in a statement. “Today there are no demands, nor is there a prediction when there might be.
“I am caught in the middle of shooting a new series, ‘Star Trek: Picard,’ and I passionately want to see it through, but in the meantime ... what? Well, I have a beautiful study in our house in Los Angeles, sunny and peaceful. I am 80 in a little over two weeks’ time. I have just treated myself to a gorgeous office chair. And ... I have the time. But most important, I am loving what I am doing, even though I never thought I would or could.”
Stewart will write about everything from “Star Trek” to his award-winning stage performances to his voice work on “American Dad.” He had expressed concern in the past about bringing back memories of his abusive father, but he will “reflect on his childhood in Yorkshire, England, marked by poverty and domestic violence; as well as his lifelong political advocacy and ongoing charity work,” according to Gallery, a division of Simon & Schuster.