Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have gotten mixed results in recent legal hearings for defamation lawsuits over $ 50 million and their lawsuit
At the last legal hearing in Virginia between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, Fairfax County Judge Bruce D. White blocked Depp’s attempt to take Heard’s case against him out of court amid a new lawsuit. law.
Heard was allowed to advance in his $ 100 million counterclaim against the 57-year-old actor after his lawyer Adam Waldman last year called his allegations of domestic violence “false” and “deception of sexual violence,” according to legal documents published in The Hollywood Reporter.
The Kentucky-born actor had tried to use a new anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law passed in the state last year to launch Heard’s lawsuit.
New details: At the last legal hearing in Virginia between Amber Heard, 34, and Johnny Depp, 57, Fairfax County Judge Bruce D. White blocked Depp’s attempt to expel the court the case in the midst of a new law.
Depp and his team were initially believed to have filed the lawsuit in Virginia over a Washington Post opinion they wrote due to their lack of law (which has been enforced ever since) at the time.
But the judge suppressed the legal move the 34-year-old Aquaman star had cited in the Virginia Computer Crimes Act, claiming that Depp and his team orchestrated an attack on her through social media (because removed it from Aquaman), citing lack of evidence.
“The plea does not show that social media accounts communicated obscene language, suggested obscene acts, or threatened illegal or immoral acts,” the judge said. “Rather, it appears that Mr. Depp sent these statements by SMS to two of his friends, and Mrs. Heard has not alleged that Mr. Depp intended her to see them.”
The Austin, Texas-born beauty responded based on Waldman’s reaction to her accusations against the actor, known for playing Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
Opposite: The judge suppressed the legal move Heard had cited in the Virginia Computer Crimes Act, claiming that Depp and his team orchestrated an attack on her through social media.
Individualist: Depp was seen in a bold ensemble last year in London
Depp fell short in his anti-SLAPP immunity claims, the judge said, noting the lack of public concern and that Edward Scissorhands’ actor “may have made these statements with real or constructive knowledge or with reckless disregard of whether they are false. “
The judge added that Depp’s comments and Waldman’s “cheating” comment imply that Ms. Heard lied and perjured herself when she appeared in court in 2016 to obtain a temporary restraining order against Mr. Heard. Depp i “implies that he has lied about being a victim of domestic violence.
“In light of the #MeToo movement and the current social climate, falsely claiming abuse is sure to hurt” [Heard’s] reputation according to the common esteem of mankind, “the judge wrote in his sentence.” Therefore, this court considers that the statements contain the “sting” necessary for a defamation lawsuit that can be acted upon. “
Convicted: Heard and Depp were captured in January 2016 in Los Angeles, months before their separation
The judge concluded that Waldman’s statements do not fall under a protected opinion, as “whether Mr. Depp abused Mrs. Heard is a fact that can be proven true or false.”
In November, a UK judge ruled on Depp’s lawsuit against an English publication calling it a “women’s beating”, and said the allegations Heard made – which have negatively affected the actor’s career – they were “substantially true”.
Depp in November was cut from Fantastic Beasts 3 by Warner Bros., while playing Gellert Grindelwald in the JK Rowling series.
Depp’s case is expected to go to trial on May 3, while Heard’s lawsuit is expected to go to court later in the year.