Aquaman star Amber Heard's move to strike down the $50 million defamation lawsuit filed by ex-husband Johnny Depp has been blocked. At this time, the suit has not been dismissed and is still expected to go to trial in Fairfax County, Virginia this coming August.
"Defendant's Demurrer is sustained as to the fourth statement listed above, but it is overruled as to the other three statements," wrote Fairfax County Chief Judge Bruce White on Friday in an opinion letter to Heard and Depp's respective lawyers (via Deadline). "Further, Defendant's Plea in Bar regarding the statute of limitations is denied. Counsel shall prepare an Order reflecting the Court’s ruling and forward that Order to the Court for entry." White notes that the statements by Heard, in line with her previous claims, implied Depp had abused her.
Depp filed the defamation suit last March in a response to a 2018 op-ed Heard penned on domestic violence for The Washington Post after publicly alleging such drug and alcohol-fueled abuse on Depp's part. Depp's lawsuit, filed in the state of Virginia -- which has more flexible defamation laws than New York or California -- claims "Ms. Heard is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator."
Depp has also filed a libel lawsuit against the News Group Newspapers-owned British tabloid The Sun, after an article published by the publication referred to Depp as a "wife beater" and criticized his involvement in the film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. However, while that suit was expected to go to trial in the United Kingdom a few days ago, it has since been put on hold as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Sun lawsuit is relevant, as it brought forth various new allegations pertaining to the situation. While Heard initially publicly abused Depp of verbal and physical abuse, Depp -- as mentioned in his defamation suit -- maintains his innocence and alleges he was actually the victim of an abusive relationship with Heard. Depp alleges, among other things, that the Aquaman star severed part of his finger and burned his face with a cigarette. Heard -- in addition to her own list of allegations of domestic violence on her ex-husband's part -- had previously claimed it was Depp who cut his own finger while attacking her. Notably, Depp said in text messages to his doctor that he was the one who accidentally injured his own finger, though the actor claims this was a lie to cover for Heard.
Uncharacteristically, Depp's lawyers did not make a statement after Heard's bid to stop the defamation suit from going to trial was denied. Heard's top lawyer -- Roberta Kaplan -- on the other had, did have some things to say. "Today's decision leaves it to a jury to decide the meaning of Ms. Heard's op-ed and the truth of what she said," Kaplan told Deadline. "As we have said all along, the courts have strong mechanisms in place for determining the truth. Here, we remain confident that Ms. Heard will prevail at trial when the jury is presented with evidence on the question that the Court identified -- namely, whether 'Ms. Heard was abused by Mr. Depp.'"
The legal battle between Heard and Depp has proven to be a rather messy one. As mentioned before, the initial allegations of domestic violence and psychological abuse made against Depp resulted in controversy surrounding the second Fantastic Beasts film due to the actor's involvement. What's more, reports claim Depp had lobbied to get Heard removed from her role in fellow Warner Bros. film Aquaman. In response to the new allegations made by Depp, some fans have called for Heard's removal from the DC film's sequel. A recently released tape from a therapy session between the then-married couple also features Heard admitting to hitting Depp in the face, with Depp implying further toxicity on both sides and expressing a desire to end the relationship before things escalated further. As always, however, bear in mind that this is an incredibly complex situation with numerous allegations and different accounts of events currently being dealt with in the legal system.
The second Aquaman film is slated for release on Dec. 16, 2022, with pre-production scheduled to begin sometime this year. The third Fantastic Beasts film was slated to begin production earlier this month, but was halted due to the Coronavirus.