- Wordplay part four - 3rd December 2024
- Terms of endearment (Wordplay part three) - 2nd December 2024
- More ‘Water, water everywhere…’ (Copyright ST Coleridge) part two - 23rd November 2024
A major department store is continuing to display a picture of shamed actor Johnny Depp to sell male perfume, despite him losing his bid to appeal against a scathing High Court ruling that he battered his ex-wife 12 times, we can reveal.
A judge at a court where Mr Depp appealed against his libel defeat, decided that The Sun was right to brand him a “wife beater” for the brutal attacks on his ex, Amber Heard, and last March it was ruled Mr Depp’s appeal had “no real prospect of success”.
But at its perfume section in Cardiff, a large picture of Mr Depp is still being used to promote Dior’s Sauvage, by the giant shop John Lewis (JL), and in the past the situation has been highlighted by our Editor Phil Parry.
Last November queries about it were sent to JL’s media department, but there has been no reply.
This is despite the fact that we were told on the day that the questions were submitted: “We will look into this for you – please could you let me know what your deadline is?”
This bizarre affair comes even after details which were given in court showed that Mr Depp’s past behaviour has been disturbing.
In the original libel case in 2020, Mr Justice Nicol concluded Mr Depp had beaten Ms Heard 12 out of 14 times – starting in 2013 when he slapped the actress after she made a comment about his tattoo.
He dismissed two allegations made by Ms Heard in 2014 and 2015, but said he couldn’t conclude she had been “untruthful”.
The judge also found Mr Depp put his ex-wife in “fear for her life” on three occasions – including during a “three-day hostage situation” in Australia in March 2015, where £120,000 worth of damage was caused to their rented home.
Mr Justice Nicol ruled that The Sun’s article about the assaults, was “substantially true”.
The court’s judgement was that:
- In early 2013, Mr Depp slapped and knocked Ms Heard to the ground after she made a joke about his “Wino Forever” tattoo.
- In March 2013, Mr Depp flew into a rage while high on drugs and hit Ms Heard so hard he made her lip bleed.
- In June 2013, Mr Depp attacked Ms Herd in a trailer at Hicksville – throwing glasses at her and ripping her dress.
- In May 2014, Mr Depp screamed at her on a private jet after taking drugs and boozing before kicking her in the back or bum.
- In 2014, Mr Depp grabed Ms Heard by the hair, slapped her and pushed her to the ground on a detox trip to the Bahamas.
- In January 2015, Mr Depp again attacked Ms Heard while on drugs – this time slapping her and pushing her to the ground. He then stood over her yelling.
- In March 2015, Mr Depp launched into a brutal three-day attack in Australia – leaving Ms Heard with a broken lip, swollen nose and cuts all over her body. He trashed the house in a violent rampage and pushed her to the ground, choking her and spitting in her face as he made Ms Heard “fear for her life”.
- In March 2015 in the couple’s LA home, Mr Depp grabbed Ms Heard in front of her sister and repeatedly hit her.
- In August 2015 on the couple’s honeymoon, Mr Depp pushed Ms Heard against a wall by grabbing her by the throat.
- In December 2015, Mr Depp chucked a glass decanter at Ms Heard at their LA home in a drug binge. He also slapped her and dragged her through the apartment by her hair – ripping a chunk out. He then hit her again in the back of the head and headbutted her in the face and screamed “I will f***ing kill you”. Mr Depp then pushed her face into a mattress and repeatedly punched her in the back of the head.
- In April 2016 at Ms. Heard’s birthday party, Mr Depp assaulted her after receiving “grim news” about his finances.
- In May 2016, Mr Depp chucked a phone at Ms Heard – injuring her eye – before pulling her hair and striking her.
The judge concluded that Ms Heard had not been untruthful in the allegations which were dismissed. These were:
- In December 2014, Ms Heard claimed Mr Depp was “violent towards” her, and later branded himself a “f***ing savage”. This is, perhaps, appropriate given that the male fragrance Mr Depp advertises is called ‘Sauvage’.
- In November 2015, she said Mr Depp “threw her around the room” and pushed her over a chair.
For his part, since the assaults Mr Depp has said he has been through “an unpleasant and messy situation”, and was facing a Hollywood “boycott”.
It also appears that legal problems have continued to beset him.
Tomorrow – why after 23 years with the BBC, and 38 years in journalism (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), our Editor Phil Parry knows better than most that for investigative journalists like him, relying on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) almost NEVER works!
Details of Mr Parry’s astonishing, award-winning, journalistic career (including details from some of the many court cases he has covered), as he was gripped by the rare neurological condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order it now!
Regrettably publication of another book, however, was refused, because it was to have included names.