Johnny Depp loses libel case against The Sun

[RoyalCorgi]

I think this is probably a good thing for those of us who campaign against domestic violence:

www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/02/johnny-depp-loses-libel-case-against-sun-over-claims-he-beat-ex-wife-amber-heard

[Al1langdownthecleghole]

To me, this comes under the two wrongs don't make a right category.

The Sun named him as a wife beater and a judge agreed. Amber Heard's behaviours though grim, don't change that.

[Wildswim]

@GoldenNCurly

Johnny Depp didn't lose the case because he is guilty of being a wife beater, he lost the case because the Sun published the article with the belief that the information was true and therefore no liable.
The case the case in America will determine if he was abusive

No, the judge said that using civil definitions of truth, he found that what the Sun published was true. The Sun used the defence of truth. It has a high bar, much higher than in the States. So yes, he is a wife-beater.

[workshy44]

He was very badly advised - I cannot believe he took the case as libel is notoriously difficult to prove.
I think his career is over now, he will get work but not the kind of paid work he was used to and he has a ridiculously extravagant lifestyle

Having read a lot about it I am surprised by the verdict

[Wildswim]

libel is notoriously difficult to prove.

Yes, for the newspaper to prove it DIDN'T libel. It's far harder for the media than for the claimant (Depp). The Sun had to prove it was true , Johnny Depp didn't have to prove it was false!

[RuffleCrow]

yes!!!!! Very glad to hear this .


He really thought that by proving she wasn't the "perfect victim" he would automatically exonerate himself, didn't he?!

Pah. It's a bad day for misogynists and a good day for us radfems.

[QuentinWinters]

Having read a lot about it I am surprised by the verdict
I'm not. The only way he wasn't going to lose was a) if courtdecided an awful lot of people were lying or b) the court decided that it was reasonable to be physically violent to a girlfriend under provocation.

All those saying "they are as bad as each other" - maybe (although not from where I'm sitting). That doesn't stop him being a wife beater tho

[IcedPurple]

@Wildswim

libel is notoriously difficult to prove.

Yes, for the newspaper to prove it DIDN'T libel. It's far harder for the media than for the claimant (Depp). The Sun had to prove it was true , Johnny Depp didn't have to prove it was false!

Exactly. English law is famously favourable to claimants in libel cases. In many jurisdictions, the burden of proof is on the claimant, but in England, the opposite is true. That's why there's such a thing as 'libel tourism' - where celebrities go out of their way to have a libel case heard in an English court - and why publishers sometimes don't publish British editions of books with potentially libelous material, as the risk to them is too great.

And still Depp lost.

[DidoLamenting]

@QuentinWinters

Having read a lot about it I am surprised by the verdict
I'm not. The only way he wasn't going to lose was a) if courtdecided an awful lot of people were lying or b) the court decided that it was reasonable to be physically violent to a girlfriend under provocation.

All those saying "they are as bad as each other" - maybe (although not from where I'm sitting). That doesn't stop him being a wife beater tho

No one has said that so not sure what your point is. Equally his being a wife- beater doesn't stop her being a "husband- beater".

They both came out of this really badly so I'm not going along with the "poor Amber" line.

[RuffleCrow]

And for the record, he used to be my "ideal man" back in the day, so it's quite a fall from grace in my eyes, and i would have been much happier if he hadn't been an abusive arse. Ditto my feelings on Sean Connery.

[nibdedibble]

@Annasgirl

Will this hinder his career in any way? I mean, I boycott so many movies and other business and arts items, due to certain men being wife beaters (I won't mention them on here as I am unsure which of them have been convicted in court) but I do not know any other people who do. So when a movie or song comes on and I switch over and explain to my family, they look at me with that "isn't mum mad" look (even, worryingly, my DD).

So will there be any change? I mean, if he had upset someone in the cancel culture category, he would no longer have a career, but in the sphere of DV, are men not always allowed an out?

You aren’t alone, I have a boycott list as long as my arm. There’s so much good art made by decent people, I’m not going to lose any sleep over not watching a bad person act, or not reading their book.

[DidoLamenting]

Sean Connery was a vile specimen and a terrible actor.

[mangoesforever]

@GoldenNCurly

Johnny Depp didn't lose the case because he is guilty of being a wife beater, he lost the case because the Sun published the article with the belief that the information was true and therefore no liable.
The case the case in America will determine if he was abusive

This

[goldenharvest]

I think they were equally abusive to one another. Doesn't excuse either of them.

[nibdedibble]

@DidoLamenting

Sean Connery was a vile specimen and a terrible actor.

Agree. And a tax dodger I believe.

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

... and a golfer, don't forget!

[Annasgirl]

@MayDayFightsBack

The lack of people agreeing with the verdict doesn't surprise me after all the adoring crap I've read about Sean Connery this weekend - a man who said he thought it was fine for men to hit women and whose ex wife said he hit her regularly.

He was on my list above.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

No, the judge said that using civil definitions of truth, he found that what the Sun published was true

To be exact “substantially true”

[Besom]

Glad about this as I was expecting him to win. When I read about it I believed her account of things. It has the ring of truth for me.

[Bluntness100]

No one on here has seen the evidence, but the judge concluded it was proven heard was a victim of domestic violence. From what I understand no such case has been proven that she is. All that’s been said is her abuser is saying she is. So whether they are as bad as each other, no one knows.

What we do know is that amber heard was a victim of domestic violence. Everything else is speculation.

[Annasgirl]

I really dislike that even on a Feminism board, there are still people who excuse violence against women (who, unless they are the world wrestling champion or happen to be a 6ft Nordic woman (I am short so please excuse me using Nordic but you know what I mean genetically) will always come off worse in a man versus woman fight, by saying that she provoked it. It is in the same vein that a woman who has ever had sex is fair game for rapists. All violence against women (and all violence against men) is WRONG and there is no excuse for it.

[LemonDrizzles]

@MayDayFightsBack

The lack of people agreeing with the verdict doesn't surprise me after all the adoring crap I've read about Sean Connery this weekend - a man who said he thought it was fine for men to hit women and whose ex wife said he hit her regularly.

This

[Thewithesarehere]

I despair of the comments saying ‘they are as bad as each other’. Imagine this being an argument on the Relationship board!
Just because he is Johnny Depp (I never got him, my mum’s generation did so I don’t get the appeal of people like him or Sean Connery) doesn’t make him exempt from the rules that other, lesser human beings should follow.
I am so happy for this verdict. The tide is changing fast in Hollywood. About bloody time!

[Bluntness100]

I’m also surprised at the responses. Like because her abuser said she did x y or z then she must have done those things and she deserved it.

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

WHo said she, or he, deserved anything?

And if this were on Relationships yes, I would imagine many would leap to support the woman... but him being Johnny Depp has nothing to do with it, as far as I am concerned - though I do appreciate that his fan base are blind to the issues.

The tide is changing fast in Hollywood. About bloody time! Yup!

[DidoLamenting]

@Annasgirl

I really dislike that even on a Feminism board, there are still people who excuse violence against women (who, unless they are the world wrestling champion or happen to be a 6ft Nordic woman (I am short so please excuse me using Nordic but you know what I mean genetically) will always come off worse in a man versus woman fight, by saying that she provoked it. It is in the same vein that a woman who has ever had sex is fair game for rapists. All violence against women (and all violence against men) is WRONG and there is no excuse for it.

No one on here has attempted to excuse his violence. Several are happy to overlook her violence and appalling behaviour.

They both came across as vile individuals. I don't feel sorry for either of them.