- Title: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard arrive at court on first day of libel case
- Date: 7th July 2020
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JULY 7, 2020) (REUTERS) MAN OPENING DOOR OF VEHICLE / MEN EXITING VEHICLE INCLUDING ACTOR JOHNNY DEPP / DEPP WALKING PAST MEDIA INTO ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE EXTERIOR OF ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE
- Embargoed: 21st July 2020 10:07
- Keywords: Amber Heard Johny Depp The Sun libel
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001CLT8NYF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard were both seen arriving at court in London on Tuesday (July 7) on the first day of the former's libel case against The Sun newspaper.
Depp, the 57-year-old star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, is suing the Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, for libel over an article Wootton wrote in 2018 calling him a "wife beater".
Depp and Heard were pictured arriving separately at the court on Tuesday with Depp wearing sunglasses and a dark scarf around his face while Heard walked in, holding the hands of two women, wearing a red scarf around her face.
The case, which is being heard at London's High Court, is set to last for three weeks, and both actors are expected to give evidence.
The couple met on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary" and married in February 2015. But she filed for divorce after just 15 months and days later obtained a restraining order against him. She has accused him of physical abuse during their relationship, allegations he denies.
Their divorce was finalised in 2017 when the restraining order was dismissed and Depp agreed to pay her a previously announced sum of $7 million.
Last week, the Sun failed in a bid to have the libel case thrown out despite the judge concluding that Depp had not fully complied with a court order by not supplying details of mobile phone texts to his assistant which the paper's legal team said referred to obtaining drugs for the actor.
The judge, Andrew Nicol, has also ruled that Heard can be in court to hear her ex-husband testify.
In his judgements, Nicol has said the Sun would rely on witness statements from Heard and others, arguing that its stories were true.
"In those articles, it is said, the Defendants accused the Claimant of multiple acts of physical violence against Ms Heard, some of which, it is alleged the articles said, put Ms Heard in fear of her life," Nicol said.
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