By Lucy Caulkett-
Johnny Depp has lost his request to appeal a British court libel decision that took sides with the Sun newspaper which called him “wife beater.”
In a Thursday ruling, the Royal Court of Appeal in London ruled against Depp and concluded that there was enough evidence that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor had indeed beaten his former wife Amber Heard.
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After the U.S actor lost his libel case against the publisher of The Sun over an article that labelled him a “wife beater”, Mr Depp asked the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge the ruling.
A judge rejected his application, claiming his appeal had “no real prospect of success”.
The 57-year-old sued News Group Newspapers (NGN) – the publisher of The Sun – over the accusation that he was violent towards Ms Heard, but the newspaper maintained its article was accurate.
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He argued that he had not received a fair trial in his original unsuccessful civil case against the newspaper, and claimed to have new evidence, including claims that Heard lied about donating her $7 million divorce settlement to charity.
The original court ruling was that the Sun article which labeled the actor as an abusive husband was “substantially true,” and that there was “overwhelming evidence” that he had frequently attacked his 34-year old wife.
Heard and Depp settled their divorce out of court , but Depp said it was Heard who was abusive and that his finger was severed when she hurled a whiskey bottle at him during an angry confrontation.
Depp’s portrayal of Heard as the attacker was dismissed by the court, ruling it accurate for the British newspaper to label the actor as a wife beater.
“We refuse Mr Depp’s application to admit further evidence in support of his proposed appeal and we conclude that the appeal has no real prospect of success and that there is no other compelling reason for it to be heard,” the court ruled Thursday. “We accordingly refuse permission to appeal.”
Misleading Impression
The judges also wrote in their ruling that they did not “believe that the judge would have reached a different conclusion if it had been established before him that Ms. Heard had given a misleading impression about how much of the $7m which she said that she had donated to charity had in fact been paid.”
The Sun newspaper expressed contentment at the ruling against Depp. “The Sun had every confidence that this leave to appeal application would not be granted and are pleased with today’s decision,” the Sun said in a statement.
“The case had a full, fair and proper hearing, and today’s decision vindicates the courageous evidence that Amber Heard gave to the court about domestic abuse, despite repeated attempts to undermine and silence her by the perpetrator. The Sun will continue to stand up and campaign for victims of domestic abuse.”
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