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Will Johnny Depp be 'canceled' again? Actor may lose 4 Hollywood projects as libel verdict brands him 'wife-beater'

There was a clamour to cancel the actor after ex wife Amber Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in December 2018 calling him a domestic abuser
UPDATED NOV 3, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Although losing his libel case against The Sun is a major setback for Johnny Depp, there is some good news for the actor to look forward to - before the ruling came out on Monday, the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star had already been offered four Hollywood movies, including reprising his role as Grindelwald in JK Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts' franchise. However, if history is repeated, he does stand to lose the projects if he becomes a victim of the cancel culture once more, as he did in the past. 

The actor, who has blown millions on legal fees and is expected to shell out millions more after he lost the case against News Group Newspapers, was also named executive producer of a new TV drama series called 'Muscle Shoals' that will air on US network ABC. According to the Express, one of his closest friends and business associates insisted the day before the verdict: "He isn't going to sink."

However, the summary of the verdict read out by London high court's Justice Nicol on Monday, November 2, said: "The Claimant has not succeeded in his action for libel. Although he has proved the necessary elements of his cause of action in libel, the Defendants have shown that what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true. I have reached these conclusions having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the Defendants rely as well as the overarching considerations which the Claimant submitted I should take into account. In those circumstances, Parliament has said that a defendant has a complete defense. It has not been necessary to consider the fairness of the article or the defendants’ ‘malice’ because those are immaterial to the statutory defense of truth," before the judge dismissed Depp's case. 

Actor Johnny Depp arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand on July 13, 2020 in London, England. (Getty Images)

The verdict shocked millions of fans who had backed Depp in his claims that his former spouse, Amber Heard, was the one who was the abuser in their 4-year-long relationship. And now that the court has rebranded him a "wife-beater" the wave of support might alter course and he might again be targetted by the trolls of cancel culture. 

In early 2019, Depp sued Heard for $50 million for defamation over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018, which "depended on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her." Depp had claimed that as a result of the op-ed, he lost his role as Captain Jack Sparrow and because of the smear campaign by his ex-wife that followed, almost lost the role of Grindewald in 'Fantastic Beast 2: Crimes of Grindelwald'. Prior to that, executives at Disney Studios failed to even offer him a cameo appearance as Captain Jack Sparrow in a planned sixth 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' following the 'wife-beater' article in the British tabloid. 

Heard, on the other hand, went on to star in 'Aquaman', sign an endorsement deal with L’Oreal and became an ambassador for the United Nations. While people rallied behind her professional success, calling out Depp for his bad karma in the past, all of that changed when in a series of explosive tapes acquired by Daily Mail -- dating back to 2015 -- Heard was reportedly caught confessing to hitting Depp and throwing pots and pans at him during their marriage. 

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp attend the "Black Mass" Virgin Atlantic Gala screening during the BFI London Film Festival, at Odeon Leicester Square on October 11, 2015 in London, England. (Getty Images)

"You didn't get punched," she is heard in the tapes. "You got hit. I'm sorry I hit you like this. But I did not punch you. I did not f***ing deck you. I f***ing was hitting you. I don't know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you're fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you." Calling herself an "animal," she also warns that "I can't promise you I won't get physical again." In one of the incidents from the time, she punched him twice in the face and another where she shattered his finger with a vodka bottle, and his finger had to be surgically reattached.

After the tapes came to light and Depp sued The Sun for libel, the very people who had rebuked him following the domestic abuse claims made by Heard began rallying behind him. #JusticeForJohnnyDepp became one of the most tweeted hashtags since then. 

The three-week-long court trial that followed at London's High Court in July revealed shocking details about Depp and Heard's stormy private lives as the court heard allegations of severe domestic abuse, drug abuse, and extramarital affairs. Heard has filed a defamation counterclaim against him for double the amount of Depp's defamation claim against her in a jury trial in Virginia scheduled for May 3.

Some legal experts believe Depp has created a no-win scenario for himself by filing the $50 million defamation lawsuit. LA-based family attorney Jim Fedalen told Express: "If he loses, the damages will add to his pile of debts. If he wins, most of it will merely pay all the lawyers he's hired."

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