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Johnny Depp’s appeal to overturn libel ruling shut down by UK court

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Mar 25, 2021, 05:04 PM IST
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Photograph:(Twitter)

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The UK court has refused to grant permission to Hollywood star Johhny Depp to challenge the recent verdict on him being a wife beater.
 

The UK court has refused to grant permission to Hollywood star Johhny Depp to challenge the recent verdict on him being a wife beater.

High Court judge Andrew Nicol ruled in November against Depp after he brought a libel case against the Sun tabloid newspaper which had run an article labelling him a "wife-beater".

Depp was accused of assaulting ex-wife, actress Amber Heard during their five-years of marriage. 

"As we have said, it is not easy to persuade this court to overturn the findings of a trial judge on purely factual questions," the two Court of Appeal judges said in their judgement.

"We do not believe that there is a real prospect of it being prepared to do so in this case."

Last week, Depp`s lawyers said Nicol`s ruling was "plainly wrong" and asked to rely on new evidence which they said showed Heard`s claim she had donated her divorce settlement to charity was "a calculated and manipulative lie".

But the Court of Appeal said the hearings before him last summer were fair.

"He gave thorough reasons for his conclusions which have not been shown even arguably to be vitiated by any error of approach or mistake of law."

The verdict has cost Johnny Depp movie roles as he has been replaced in 'Fantastic Beasts 3' after filming a major part of his role. Depp had played Grindelwald in the first two parts of the series which is based on JK Rowling's books. 

(With inputs from Reuters)