Report: Johnny Depp Is Dating One of His Libel Attorneys

Johnny Depp is reportedly dating a lawyer from one of his libel cases—and it's not the case he won in Virginia. Sources tell Page Six that the 59-year-old actor has been seeing Joelle Rich, one of the lawyers who represented him in his failed lawsuit in Britain against the owner of the Sun newspaper. Rich showed up to support Depp in his Virginia lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, but she wasn't part of his legal team in the case. Sources tell Us Weekly that Rich was married when she met Depp but is in the process of divorcing her husband. In the British case, a judge ruled in 2020 that the tabloid had shown that an article describing Depp as a "wife beater" was "substantially true." In 2021, Depp was refused permission to appeal.

An insider tells People that Depp and Rich are dating "but it's not serious." During Depp's Virginia defamation trial against Heard earlier this year, in which he was awarded $10 million in damages, there were rumors he was dating attorney Camille Vasquez. She called the rumors sexist. "I guess it comes with the territory of being a woman just doing her job," she told People. "It's disappointing that certain outlets kind of ran with it or said that my interactions with Johnny—who is a friend and I've known and represented for four-and-a-half years now—that my interactions in any way were inappropriate or unprofessional. That's disappointing to hear." (More Johnny Depp stories.)