Amber Heard in trouble as Johnny Depp allowed libel suit against her in US

Johnny Depp, whose acting career has almost come to an end after devastating legal loss in UK, will get a second libel trial to prove his claims that he didn’t physically abuse ex-wife Amber Heard. 

A Virginia judge Wednesday ruled that the decision in Depp’s suit against the publisher of a newspaper shouldn’t derail his second case against his ex-wife over an op/ed published in the Washington Post.

Heard is being sued in that latter case over a Dec 2018 column where she penned, “I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”

That suit in Virginia was expected to make it to trial first, but thanks to delays, Depp’s UK case got the honor.

In the United Kingdom, the actor sued over an article that had called him a “wife beater.” After a trial that lasted weeks, Judge Andrew Nicol found substantial truth to the article, specifically with regards to 14 incidents that happened during the troubled marriage.

The ruling left Depp in the atypical position of arguing he didn’t get everything he wanted in the country, which has long been known for libel tourism since the burden of proof is on defendant and public figures needn’t show actual malice.

On the other hand, Amber Heard responded that the Virginia court should recognize the U.K. judgment, and since both actions centered on whether Johny Depp was a domestic abuser, declare the matter already adjudicated.

The trial is scheduled for early next year and will also examine Johnny Depp's ex wife Amber Heard’s counterclaims.