Johnny Depp.Photo: JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty
A legal expert says the outpouring of online support forJohnny Deppamid the actor’s ongoing defamation case against ex-wifeAmber Heardhas no bearing on the trial’s outcome.
OnWednesday’s episodeof thePEOPLE Every Daypodcast, entertainment litigator and defamation expert Daniel Gutenplan, a partner at Enenstein Pham & Glass, said posts on social media over the course of the trial have “been very pro” Depp — but it “frankly means nothing for the case.”
“But it gives you an idea of how the public is signing on this,” he says.
Gutenplan adds that he believes Depp’s “reputation and his career has been irreparably tarnished because of this, these allegations, these incidents that have come to light.”
The actor originally filed the $50 million lawsuit in March 2019 (the exesmarriedin February 2015 and split the following year).
“Anyone in this world would love to have $50 million, but I think the case is bigger than that. I think it’s a case and a war on public opinion,” Gutenplan says, noting how Depp was dropped from thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise.
Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.
Amber Heard; Johnny Depp.JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/AFP/Getty
Gutenplan adds, “As much as he’d like to go get money in that pot of gold at the end of the lawsuit, I think he also has been taking this case all the way because he’s trying to regain his image in the court of public opinion.”
“What you’re seeing day to day in the trial in terms of the dirty laundry that’s being aired … I think it doesn’t necessarily bear on the defamation case so much, but it bears on the public’s opinion of [Depp],” he says.
Gutenplan previously told PEOPLE last month that he believesDepp “has an uphill battle"in terms of the trial taking place in Fairfax, Virginia. (Proceedings have been paused for the past week, and are set to resume Monday at 9 a.m. ET.)
“Defamation is very hard to prove,” he added. “First and foremost, truth is an absolute defense to any defamatory statement. So regardless of the alleged defamatory statement, if a defendant can establish that it is true, the defense is going to win.”
Gutenplan pointed out that Heard’s essay never name-dropped theSweeney Toddactor and “doesn’t detail any specific alleged events or any specific conduct. It is incredibly general in that regard.”
He also said that winning a defamation case “has to be based on facts,” adding, “It can’t be based on opinion. And that’s where a lot of defamation plaintiffs get in trouble.”
Heard and Depp met while making the 2011 filmThe Rum Diary, and later wed in 2015. They broke up in May 2016, when Heard sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of abusing her. Depp denied the claims, and the former couple settled theirdivorceout of court in August 2016.
Back in November 2020, Depplost his highly publicized U.K. libel lawsuit caseagainst British tabloidThe Sunfor calling him a “wife-beater.” The court upheld the outlet’s claims as being “substantially true” and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, thePirates of the Caribbeanstar’s attempt tooverturn the decision was overruled.
source: people.com
