Libel battle: Johnny Depp will lose, even if he wins in court

Admissions of ‘industrial scale’ drug taking mean even victory in court will leave actor Johnny Depp the loser.

Johnny Depp outside court and (inset) a picture of the actor tendered by ex Amber Heard to the court during the trial. Pictures: AFP/Supplied

Johnny Depp’s ability to travel worldwide will be curtailed even if Monday’s libel ruling in London goes in his favour because he has admitted “industrial scale” drug-taking, a legal expert has claimed.

Lawyers also predicted that victory for the Hollywood star against The Sun would reinforce stereotypes around women who claim to be victims of domestic abuse.

The actor is suing the newspaper over allegations that he beat the actress Amber Heard when they were married.

Sixteen days of hearings in the High Court ended in July. Mr Justice Nicol is expected to give his on Monday in the UK.

Mark Stephens, a media law partner at the London law firm Howard Kennedy, said on Sunday that Depp’s “wings will be clipped” regardless of the judge’s ruling, as it is likely that the actor would struggle to obtain visas for many countries that operate anti-drugs laws.

Despite never having been convicted of a drugs offence, Depp admitted during the libel trial that he took what Mr Stephens referred to as “industrial quantities” of Class-A substances that are illegal in many jurisdictions, including the Middle East and eastern Asia.

The lawyer added that “even though he [Depp] has no convictions for drug abuse, the authorities in some countries could ban him from entry on the basis of his court evidence. He claims to be a reformed drug-taker but they might not believe that.”

US actress Amber Heard arrives at the High Court for the libel trial by her former husband US actor Johnny Depp against News Group Newspapers (NGN) in London, on July 24. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP

Lawyers have also highlighted wider issues surrounding the defamation trial.

Mr Stephens argued that a ruling in favour of Depp “will reinforce tropes about women claimants in domestic abuse cases”.

He pointed out that the actor’s legal team had depicted Heard as a “gold-digger” and an “adulterer”.

“They attempted to discredit Amber Heard with those allegations,” Mr Stephens said, “as well as claiming that she could not have been that bothered by Depp’s behaviour because she did not immediately leave him. If Depp wins, then those approaches to women in the witness box will be reinforced, as they will have succeeded here.”

Depp gestures to supporters as he leaves court after the final day of his libel trial. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP

Amber Melville-Brown, another media law specialist, who is a partner at Withers, added that a victory for Depp “might not only discourage newspapers from taking on such stories against a mighty celebrity foe, but it may also serve as a frightening reminder to women and others who consider themselves victims that they may become collateral damage if they put their heads above the publicity parapet”.

Ms Melville-Brown, who is based in New York, described Depp’s London libel trial as a “dress rehearsal” for his claim against Heard personally in a trial in a Virginia court over an article the actress wrote in The Washington Post.

Defamation trials in the US are generally still heard by juries, which tend to hand out multimillion-dollar awards.

“If Depp wins in London,” Ms Melville-Brown said, “he will likely flaunt the valued prize of a ruling from the largely respected English court system as he enters the precincts of the Virginia court”.

The Times