Johnny Depp Sues Tabloid for Libel

'The Sun' claimed he beat his now-ex, Amber Heard
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 18, 2020 6:00 PM CDT
Johnny Depp Sues Tabloid for Libel
Actor Johnny Depp, center, leaves the High Court in London, after attending a preliminary hearing in his libel case against the publishers of The Sun and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article alleging he had been abusive to his ex-wife Amber Heard, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020.   (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

In 2018, a British tabloid said Johnny Depp lost the top of his middle finger after in the middle of an "alcohol and drug-addled rage" against ex-wife Amber Heard in 2015, before their divorce. Depp says that's not true, and is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of the Sun, over the article, the BBC reports. Depp says Heard threw a glass bottle at him, fracturing his finger, after he asked her to sign a post-nuptial agreement but Heard—who is giving evidence in support of the Sun—says Depp was coming off a three-day bender when he grabbed her and ripped off her nightgown, pushed her into a ping-pong table, slammed her against a countertop and choked her during an Australian vacation, and "severely injured his finger, cutting off the top" while smashing a telephone against a wall, NGN's lawyer says.

The lawyer also says Depp's version of the story was undermined by texts he sent his doctor after the fight. Page Six says those texts were heard during a preliminary hearing Wednesday: "I cut the top of my middle finger off… What should I do!?? Except, of course, go to a hospital…. I’m so embarrassed for jumping into anything with her… F--- THE WORLD!!! JD," reads one. The second, 12 days later: "Thank you for everything. I have chopped off my left middle finger as a reminder that I should never cut my finger off again!! I love you, brother. Johnny." Among those writing statements of support for Depp are Penelope Cruz and Winona Ryder, who told the court they were shocked at the articles depicting Depp as violent. At another hearing Friday, it will be determined whether a two-week trial will start Monday. (More Johnny Depp stories.)

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