Hollywood actor Johnny Depp exited the Fantastic Beasts franchise after he lost a libel case against British tabloid The Sun over a 2018 article that labelled him a wife-beater.
The actor and Warner Bros. studio announced separately on Friday about the actor exiting the franchise. Depp played the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the first two film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter prequel series.
As the news of actor exiting the franchise broke in, #JusticeForJohnnyDepp started to trend on Twitter in support of the actor.
English actor Greg Ellis posted a letter by Depp and wrote, “I’ve known JD for over a decade. Worked on 4 movies together. Our kids went to the same school. A lovely bloke & great dad. I wish more of the actors, filmmakers & studios who benefited financially from working w him would show more public support (sic).”
Meanwhile, several others also came in support of the actor on Twitter.
As of now, his fans has signed at least 4 petitions on change.org to bring back the actor as Gellert Grindelwald.
Johnny Depp on Monday lost the libel case against a tabloid that called him a wife-beater.
He lost the sensational case against his former wife Amber Heard and The Sun newspaper when, after a 16-day trial, London High Court ruled that the Hollywood star was “a wife-beater”. Heard had claimed that Depp had hit her 14 times during their turbulent relationship, reports dailymail.co.uk.
Depp had sued The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in the tabloid in 2018. Heard was the newspaper’s chief witness.
“The claimant has not succeeded in his action for libel. Although he has proved the necessary elements of his cause of action in libel, the defendants have shown that what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true,” the judge said in Monday’s ruling.
“I have reached these conclusions having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the defendants rely as well as the overarching considerations which the claimant submitted I should take into account,” added the judge.
After the judgement, Heard’s legal team also came out with a statement.Johnny Depp on Monday lost the libel case against a tabloid that called him a wife beater.
He lost the sensational case against his former wife Amber Heard and The Sun newspaper when, after a 16-day trial, London High Court ruled that the Hollywood star was “a wife-beater”. Heard had claimed that Depp had hit her 14 times during their turbulent relationship, reports dailymail.co.uk.
Depp had sued The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in the tabloid in 2018. Heard was the newspaper’s chief witness.
“The claimant has not succeeded in his action for libel. Although he has proved the necessary elements of his cause of action in libel, the defendants have shown that what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true,” the judge said in Monday’s ruling.
“I have reached these conclusions having examined in detail the 14 incidents on which the defendants rely as well as the overarching considerations which the claimant submitted I should take into account,” added the judge.
After the judgement, Heard’s legal team also came out with a statement.
Depp and Heard met on the set of “The Rum Diary” in 2009 and married in February 2015. Depp filed for divorce in May 2016.
Meanwhile, Depp is suing Heard for $50 million in a trial set to take place in the US next year, after she wrote about being a domestic abuse survivor in a Washington Post article. Heard is counter-suing him for an $100 million saying that the actor and his legal team have started a global smear campaign against her.
Courtesy: FJP
