Johnny Depp ordered to hand over all audio recordings of Amber Heard and his medical records before libel trial
Ahead of Johnny Depp's trial against The Sun newspaper, the Hollywood actor has been asked to hand over his medical files and all audio recordings he has between him and his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Depp has been at the center of a massive controversy regarding his marriage to Amber Heard. Where once seen in the public eye as the perpetrator of abuse, a recent leak of audio recordings between him and Heard, in which she is heard threatening and abusing him, has put the public squarely on his side again.
Now, he is suing News Group Newspapers, who own The Sun, for libel.
The Sun printed a number of articles defaming Depp, alleging him to be a serial abuser and a "wife-beater." Depp is also suing the Sun's executive editor, Daniel Wootton. Lawyers for Depp and Wootton have asked Justice Nicols to rule on the case after preliminary hearings, according to the Guardian.
Depp has been asked to disclose text messages between him and Heard, as well as audiotapes of conversations the couple has had. It is believed that those recordings contain evidence of Depp being physically violent towards Heard when they were together.
The judge has also called for documents related to their divorce proceedings, as well as details as to how Depp had gone about acquiring his medical details. The court declined the request of Wootten's lawyers for Depp's texts, which they believe contains very damaging texts for Depp's case.
The case is being held in regard to an article published in the Sun in April 2018 with the headline, "Gone potty – how can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?"
Depp's case centers on the meaning of the article, which his lawyers say is that he was "guilty, on overwhelming evidence, of serious domestic violence against his then-wife, causing significant injury and leading to her fearing for her life, which [he] was then constrained to pay no less than £5m ($6.5m) to compensate her, and which resulted in him being subjected to a continuing court restraining order; and for that reason is not fit to work in the film industry."
NGN's case hinges on proving that the meaning of the article as given above is indeed true and that Depp's claims of libel are unfounded.
Depp is also suing Heard over libel in US courts, a case that is still ongoing.