A judge in the US has rejected American actor Amber Heard’s plea to dismiss the 50 million USD defemation lawsuit filed against by her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Fairfax County Chief Judge, Penny Azcarate rejected Heard’s motion to dimiss the case which will now proceed to trial next year.
The judge granted Depp to pursue the lawsuit, denying Heard’s supplemental plea to dismiss the case after Depp lost his UK libel lawsuit against the British tabloid, The Sun, which had referred to the actor as a “wife-beater”.
Last year, after a trial that lasted weeks, a UK-based judge stated that after finding "substantial truth" to the article in The Sun, specifically with regards to 14 incidents that happened during the troubled marriage, Depp lost to the tabloid.
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The libel case loss was being considered by Amber Heard's team a major win for her, following which she filed a motion to ask the Virginia court to dismiss Depp's defamation case against her.
As reported by Deadline, Depp's lawyers commented on the recent development and said, "Mr. Depp is most gratified by the Court’s decision."
This comes as a second victory for Depp after the actor was recently granted permission by a New York judge to conduct a determination if Heard donated a portion of their seven million USD divorce settlement to the ACLU, as claimed by her. Depp had recently sued ACLU, back in May, to force the nonprofit to reveal whether Heard made the donations as promised by her.
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As for their upcoming Virginia defamation suit which has already faced multiple delays amid the pandemic, the case is now slated for a hearing in April 2022.
(With Inputs From Pinkvilla)
