Amber Heard enjoys a hike in Los Angeles after ex husband Johnny Depp loses ‘wife beater’ libel suit

Amber Heard stepped out for some fresh air in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon after ex husband Johnny Depp lost a ‘wife beater’ libel suit.

The 34-year-old actress looked to be in great spirits while hiking with a friend and her dog in Southern California.

Depp, 57, sued The Sun for an article describing him as a ‘wife beater’ following multiple domestic violence accusations waged on him during his two-year marriage to Heard.

Mr. Justice Nicol wrote that Heard’s claims were ‘substantially true’ in a written statement through the UK Ministry of Justice.

The judge concluded that Depp had beaten Heard a dozen times, beginning in 2013 when he slapped the actress across the face when she made a comment about a tattoo on his arm that he changed from ‘Winona Forever’ to ‘Wino Forever’ when he split up with Winona Ryder. 

‘For those of us present for the London High Court trial, this decision and Judgment are not a surprise,’ Heard’s US counsel, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, said in a written statement. 

In his ruling, the judge found Depp attacked his ex-wife a dozen times and said he accepted that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor became a ‘monster’ when he binged on drink and drugs.

Depp called the judgment ‘perverse’ and ‘bewildering’ as he vowed the appeal the ruling after his high-stakes battle against his ex-wife Heard and The Sun newspaper.

‘Most troubling is the Judge’s reliance on the testimony of Amber Heard, and corresponding disregard of the mountain of counter-evidence from police officers, medical practitioners, her own former assistant, other unchallenged witnesses and an array of documentary evidence which completely undermined the allegations, point by point,’ attorney Jenny Afia said in a written statement.  

Depp still faces a hearing in the states where he is suing his former wife for $50 million in a defamation suit following a 2018 article for The Washington Post where she discussed domestic violence.

‘All of this was overlooked. The judgment is so flawed that it would be ridiculous for Mr. Depp not to appeal this decision. In the meantime, we hope that in contrast to this case, the ongoing libel proceedings in America are equitable, with both parties providing full disclosure rather than one side strategically cherry-picking what evidence can and cannot be relied upon,’ Afia added.

He had hoped a victory in the High Court in London would bolster his case which is not likely to be heard until 2021. 

Depp sued the Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in the Sun in April 2018 that originally carried the headline ‘Gone Potty: How can J.K. Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?’