Substantially true
I didn’t even know Johnny Depp was suing The Sun for libel. I barely know who he is, to tell the truth – I don’t think I’ve seen any of his work. Anyway, he was was suing The Sun for libel because The Sun called him a wife-beater, and he lost the suit because hey guess what it turned out to be true.
In the 129-page ruling, the judge, Mr Justice Nicol, said: “The claimant [Depp] has not succeeded in his action for libel … The defendants [the Sun and News Group Newspapers] have shown that what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true.
The judge added: “I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard.” He also said he accepted Heard’s evidence that the allegations she made against Depp “have had a negative effect on her career as an actor and activist”.
Marvelous, isn’t it? He beats her up and her career is harmed because she said he beat her up.
In 12 out of the 14 incidents of assault reported by Heard, the judge said he found the allegations proved. “I do not regard [the Sun’s] inability to make good these allegations [in the other two incidents] as of importance in determining whether they have established the substantial truth of the words that they published.”
In his conclusion, Nicol cited an email sent by Depp in August 2016 as indicative of the actor’s true feelings towards Heard. Depp’s message said: “I have no mercy, no fear and not an ounce of emotion or what I once thought was love for this gold digging, low level, dime a dozen, mushy, pointless dangling overused flappy fish market … I can only hope that karma kicks in and takes the gift of breath from her … Sorry man … But NOW I will stop at nothing!!!”
Jeeeeeeeezus.
The visceral disgust a lot of men feel toward women never fails to creep me out. “The good one” is spared for a time when the man is infatuated with her, but once that’s over she’s just another dangling overused flappy fish market.
Of course, JK Rowling is being scolded by the usual suspects because Depp was in one or some of the films of her books.
And of course he kept her fully informed of his wife-beating habits.
Well obviously some woman is responsible for him beating his wife. Here we were assuming it was Amber Heard, when it was obviously JRK all along. /s
And the other question is how much control she had over the casting. Most authors don’t get to control much about the movie; perhaps she did, perhaps she didn’t.
iknklast, that would only be a question if Depp’s behaviour was known to Rowling at the time, but then again since those hounding her clearly believe in magic they’ll still scold her because she should have known the information that was yet to be known.
Right, AoS, but even if she did, it seems unlikely that she had control over casting, so even if they assume she knew it (magical thinking, of course, just like everyone is supposed to know that big guy with the bears and the lipstick is a she), it would still be wrong to accuse her of anything. I suppose she could get it in her contract with the studio that they would never hire Johnny Depp, but that seems like a stretch.
Good. I’m glad that he lost the suit. I remember the pictures of Heard when the story came out; her face was black and blue.
@lalsot #1
Depp played Gellert Grindelwald in both Fantastic beasts and Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grinelwald. I never saw the latter film, but I’m guessing domestic violence wasn’t one of the crimes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Depp_filmography