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Johnny Depp calls Amber Heard’s $7M charity pledge a ‘manipulative lie,' Internet says jail her for 'abuse'

Johnny Depp's legal team is hoping to overturn the ruling against the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor in The Sun libel case, relying on 'fresh evidence' that Heard did not donate her divorce settlement to charity

Johnny Depp's lawyers have told the UK Court of Appeal that Amber Heard's claim that she donated her seven million dollar divorce settlement to charity was a “calculated and manipulative lie."

Depp's legal team is hoping to overturn a controversial High Court ruling that he assaulted ex-wife Heard and put her in "fear for her life." The Hollywood star is asking the Court of Appeal for a retrial of his libel claim against The Sun.

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Justice Andrew Nichol ruled that Depp, 57, had assaulted Heard, 34, on numerous occasions and put her in "fear for her life" three times. The ruling, which came after a three-week trial in July last year, found that an April 2018 column that saw the British newspaper describe Depp as a “wife-beater” was “substantially true”.

However, Depp has claimed he “did not receive a fair trial” and will seek permission to appeal against the ruling at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Thursday, March 18.

Andrew Caldecott QC, Depp's barrister, has applied for permission to rely on “fresh evidence” that Heard did not donate her divorce settlement to charity. It's worth noting that the Aquaman star had said following her 2016 divorce from her husband that she would split the seven million dollar settlement amount between the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Caldecott, however, revealed that the hospital had told Depp’s business adviser in 2019 that Heard had not made “any payments" to them. The barrister said in written submissions that Heard's pledges of charity had strengthened her credit "in an exceptional way," and had now been found to be a “calculated and manipulative lie, designed to achieve a potent favorable impression from the outset."

Justice Nicol had rejected Depp's argument in November that Heard was a "gold-digger," noting in his ruling how "her donation of the seven million US dollars to charity is hardly the act one would expect of a gold-digger." But Caldecott argued that if “the truth about the charity claim emerged at the trial, it would have materially affected Mr. Justice Nicol’s consideration of Ms. Heard’s evidence as a whole."

He explained that the evidence was presented as a "wholly exceptional act of philanthropy, which would have deeply impressed any reasonable person," adding that, “Her public statements expressly stated that the ACLU donation had victims of domestic violence specifically in mind. The subliminal message of the charity claim was, in any event, clear -- Ms. Heard would not wish to keep any of Mr. Depp’s money, because he had subjected her to serious violence. The evidence presented, and was obviously intended to present, her in the strongest terms as both virtuous and a victim.”

According to Caldecott, Depp “had his suspicions about Ms. Heard’s evidence” during the trial, “but he had no evidence to support them." The barrister added that Heard "took every available step to suppress the evidence.”

Die-hard fans of Depp inundated social media with messages of support, once again sparking the popular trend '#JusticeForJohnnyDepp.' "Johnny Depp is a wonderful man who is innocent and he’s become a victim of domestic abuse by Amber Heard. We can’t just sit here and let injustice overtake Johnny, we must stand by him and brave the storm as a united front. Fans all over the world fight for #JusticeForJohnnyDepp," one fan wrote.

"It’s infuriating that because Amber Heard is a woman she is getting away with the ongoing abuse she put Johnny Depp through. This man's life has been ruined over lies. She should be in jail for the abuse. #JusticeForJohnnyDepp," another fan tweeted.