Johnny Depp Scores Second Libel Case Against Amber Heard as Judge Rejects Her Bid to Throw $50 Million Defamation Suit

Johnny Depp's defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard has been permitted to proceed. The actor, 58, is suing his ex-wife over an op-ed she penned in the Washington Post in 2018 on surviving domestic violence.

Although Heard did not name Depp in her op-ed, she did accuse him of domestic abuse during their 2016 breakup, which he rejected. A Virginia judge gave Depp the authority to pursue his lawsuit, according to court documents acquired by PEOPLE on Tuesday, refusing Heard's additional petition to dismiss the case after Depp lost his libel lawsuit in the United Kingdom against British tabloid The Sun.

Depp-Heard defamation battle

The Pirates of the Caribbean star lost his battle against the British newspaper that dubbed him a "wife-beater" in November 2020. The outlet's allegations were found to be "substantially true" by the court.

Amber Heard's motion to dismiss Johnny Depp's lawsuit, which was filed in Virginia in March 2019, came as the actress argued that the UK judgment should apply to the US proceedings because both claims revolve on allegations of the actor abusing women.

Instead, Fairfax County Chief Judge Penney Azcarate dismissed the actress's plea, stating that while Heard's op-ed and The Sun's article both dealt with allegations of abuse, the tabloid's and Heard's assertions were "inherently different." Heard was not listed as a party in Depp's case against The Sun because her op-ed was published after he sued the tabloid, according to Azcarate.

Per USA Today, the ruling is a big triumph for the actor in his ongoing battle with his ex, which began during their California divorce in 2016 and has now outlasted their troubled marriage. The lawsuit is set for trial in Fairfax County, Virginia's largest and most populated county, which is located in suburban Washington, D.C., on April 11, 2022. Both sides, including Heard's, will resume discovery proceedings, such as taking depositions.

The Virginia action stems from an opinion piece Heard wrote in December 2018 for the Washington Post, which is published in Virginia, where she claimed she had become a public face of domestic abuse. In the post, she decried how she "felt the full weight of our culture's anger for women who speak out."

Depp filed his claim a few months later, demanding $50 million in damages. According to his lawsuit, he portrayed himself as a victim of "false" charges, part of an elaborate scheme to generate positive publicity for Heard to enhance her career. Depp's lawsuit claims Heard never named the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star by name in her article, but it was apparent who and what she was referring to.

Her article came after the couple's tumultuous 2016 divorce proceedings, during which Heard accused Depp of domestic abuse, requested a restraining order against him, and claimed he threw a cellphone at her face during a fight at their downtown Los Angeles loft. Johnny Depp has categorically rejected all of the charges, and the Los Angeles police officers who arrived at their loft the night of the alleged abuse stated they discovered no evidence of a crime.

By the end of the summer, the two had struck an out-of-court settlement and released a lengthy joint statement declaring their love. Heard's several legal teams have been seeking unsuccessfully for the past two years to have Depp's Virginia lawsuit dismissed. Meanwhile, Depp's libel lawsuit in London, which ended in June 2020 after a three-week circus-like trial, had the two movie stars as star witnesses.

Johnny Depp speaks out about Hollywood boycott

Meanwhile, following a court fight with his ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp has lashed out at Hollywood, claiming that his employer, MGM, had "buried" his latest film, Minamata. Johnny Depp's most recent film, Minamata, is yet to be released.

Eugene Smith, a photographer who documented the consequences of mercury poisoning on the inhabitants of Minamata, Japan, will be the subject of a future biopic. The film was supposed to be released worldwide last year, however, it has been postponed to a "TBA" release date. Depp has spoken out about the incident in a new interview, criticizing his bosses' conduct.

Following a court battle with Amber Heard, the Pirates of the Caribbean star addressed the "boycott" of himself. The "messy" incident Depp is alluding to is his ex-wife, Heard, accusing him of being a "wife-beater." Depp and Heard were involved in a court struggle after being charged by a British tabloid.

The actor has been asked to leave his role as Gellert Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts series since the legal suit surfaced. Depp was the main antagonist in the Harry Potter spin-off, which altered the series' trajectory. Meanwhile, he is rumored to have been fired from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series, as per Express.co.