Johnny Depp is returning to court in the UK in a bid to overturn the verdict that went against him last month in a high-profile libel case. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor had attempted to sue British newspaper The Sun for labelling him as “a wife beater” in response to ex-wife Amber Heard’s domestic abuse allegations. The judge, however, ultimately ruled in favor of The Sun, declaring their description to be “substantially true.”
Depp’s legal team announced their intention to appeal this immediately after, and while it was denied by Mr. Justice Nichols, the actor’s representatives were given until December 7th to apply to the Court of Appeal to fight it. That’s been successful and now, Depp’s returning to appeal the case at a later date. However, the star’s grounds are not known at this stage.
The UK court ruling proved disastrous for his career and public image, as shortly after the judgement against him, Warner Bros. dropped the former A-lister from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, with Mads Mikkelsen stepping into his role as main villain Gellert Grindelwald. Meanwhile, he’s said to be struggling to find work around Hollywood now that his reputation has taken such a hit.
Of course, this appeal is in addition to the US lawsuit that Depp has coming up against Heard herself next year, which concerns a piece that the actress wrote for The Washington Post that alludes to her domestic abuse allegations against him. Johnny Depp‘s team has previously boasted that they’ve got a lot more evidence on the Aquaman star which would apparently prove their client’s innocence, and it’s possible they’ll have to use some of this in the UK appeal case in their bid to get the ruling overturned.