Libel, it is said, is a rich person’s game – which may explain why Hollywood star Johnny Depp can afford to come back for more over allegations of domestic violence towards his ex-wife Amber Heard.
In the biggest libel trial of the century (so far) the Pirates of the Caribbean star experienced a bruising 2020 when a High Court judge found the Sun’s description of him as a ‘wife beater’ to be ‘substantially true’.
During the course of those proceedings, Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in which she described herself as ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse [who] felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out’. She did not refer to Depp by name, but he has sued her for $50m while she has counterclaimed for $100m. This has set the stage for another blockbuster trial, this time before a judge, jury and TV cameras in Virginia.
This is not quite ‘round two’: Depp is suing Heard personally this time, rather than a publisher. A more significant difference may be the requirement for Depp to prove ‘actual malice’ on the part of Heard, though perhaps trial by jury will change the dynamic.
However, some things remain the same. Depp has again instructed Brown Rudnick to run his case.
Obiter cannot help but think of the famous line, wrongly attributed to Albert Einstein, that ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’.
