Fantastic Beasts star Johnny Depp’s libel case against The Sun newspaper is in trouble due to 2015 texts.
Johnny Depp’s libel case against the executive editor of The Sun has hit a roadblock after texts from March 2015 were revealed showing the Fantastic Beasts star asking his assistant Nathan Holmes to obtain drugs while he and his ex-wife Amber Heard were in Australia. The texts were were sent just before Heard claimed she endured a “three-day ordeal of physical assaults” while her ex-husband was intoxicated. The Judge, Mr Justice Nichol, explained that Depp’s legal team should have disclosed the texts.
“The Australian drug texts were adverse to the claimant’s pleaded case and/or were supportive of the defendants’ pleaded case. I agree that the timing is significant. The exchanges with Mr Holmes began shortly before the alleged incidents in Australia.”
Mr Justice Nichol offered Johnny Depp’s legal team the chance to fix the situation by applying for “relief against sanctions” before the three-week trial begins on July 7 at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Depp’s attorney pointed out that the star has been honest about his drug use in the past and that the 2015 texts don’t prove he bought any drugs in Australia. In the Fantastic Beasts star’s other defamation suit against his ex-wife, a witness says Amber Heard “got bruises” while Depp was abroad.
Here is the official synopsis for the most recent entry in the film franchise, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald:
At the end of the first film, the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander. But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise wizards and witches up to rule over all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
Directed by David Yates from a script written by J. K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is now available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD. Stay tuned for the latest news on Eddie Redmayne, J.K. Rowling, and the future of the Wizarding World franchise as we learn it! You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content in the future!
Source: Deadline
