Johnny Depp's libel lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned British newspaper, The Sun, commenced trial in England this week, as the attorney for the Fantastic Beasts actor claims that the lawsuit is about vindication from claims by Depp's ex-wife, Aquaman actress, Amber Heard, that the Pirates of the Caribbean star was physically abusive towards her that the newspaper repeated in an article.

The trial, which is expected to last about three weeks, began on Monday with opening statements from lawyers for Depp and for News Group Newspapers. Each side obviously had a very different take on the heart of this controversial suit, where Depp is suing The Sun's publisher and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article that called Depp a "wife-beater." A similar lawsuit by Depp against Heard personally will be tried later this year in the United States over an op-ed piece that the actress wrote for the Washington Post also alleging that Depp abused her.

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David Sherborne, Depp's lead attorney on the British suit, opened by noting that this lawsuit will determine whether Heard's claims are true or not. If they are not, then Depp should receive damages. Sherborne explained that, “It will come as no surprise to hear that this is not a case about money. It is about vindication. Mr Depp has made that clear at various hearings. That is why he has come here – to clear his reputation.”

Sherborne claims that Heard fabricated her claims of abuse and that, in fact, it was Heard herself who had physically assaulted Depp in the past. The attorney then turned his attention to Wootton and the Sun, noting that the newspaper “repeated Ms Heard’s allegations, referring to what he described as ‘overwhelming evidence’ in her favour, in an obvious attempt to confirm categorically in the readers’ minds, several million readers’ minds, that these appalling and serious allegations of criminality were true”.

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Sherborne said that the case boiled down to determining which of Depp or Heard were lying. One of them has to be lying, and Sherborne argued that it would make no sense for Depp to travel to another country to launch an expensive defamation lawsuit if he knew that the claims against him were true.

Naturally, though, that is precisely what the lawyers for News Group Newspapers' argued in their opening statement. Sasha Wass claimed that, “The defendants will demonstrate that the description of Mr Depp as a ‘wife beater’ is entirely accurate and truthful. They will show that the sting of the articles is correct – namely that the claimant beat his wife Amber Heard, causing her to suffer significant injury and on occasion leading to her fearing for her life. This defence is supported by witness testimony, medical evidence, photographs, video, audio recordings, digital evidence and Mr Depp’s own texts."

The trial continues as we will see which side of the coin the jury finds the most believable.

Via Deadline.