Petition For Re-Appeal In Johnny Depp's UK Libel Case Gets Over 57,000 Signatures

A petition to allow Johnny Depp to re-appeal his U.K. case against The Sun following a Virginia jury's unanimous verdict in his favor has amassed nearly 60,000 signatures.

Earlier this month, a Virginia jury ruled in a unanimous decision that Amber Heard, 36, defamed her ex-husband Depp, 58, in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post about surviving domestic abuse.

Following the June 1 verdict, Daniel ShenSmith, a lawyer in England and Wales who goes by BlackBeltBarrister on YouTube, launched a petition on Change.org calling on the Lord Chief Justice to allow Depp to re-appeal a U.K. judge's 2020 ruling that he assaulted his ex-wife.

In Virginia, a plaintiff will only win a defamation case if the defendant made a "false and defamatory" statement "of or concerning" the plaintiff. The jury agreed that Depp satisfied the conditions, which now turned fans and legal experts' attention to the November 2020 verdict in Depp's libel lawsuit against British tabloid The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater."

Depp lost the case after a U.K. judge upheld the outlet's claims as being "substantially true," and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, the actor's attempt to overturn the decision was overruled.

"The world watched as the U.S. trial unfolded and the jury delivered its verdict in contrast to the findings of the trial judge in the U.K.," ShenSmith wrote in the petition, which has received over 57,000 signatures as of this writing.

He pointed out the significance of the verdict in Virginia, adding, "The jury returned the unanimous verdict that Amber Heard defamed Johnny Depp in her statements of the alleged abuse and, therefore, that the alleged abuse did not occur. This is in stark contrast with the U.K. judgment, rendering it wholly incompatible as a matter of natural justice."

The lawyer said that the Virginia trial revealed "inconsistent evidential findings" and that there were "issues with disclosure" in the U.K. trial.

"How can this have ever achieved a just outcome? How can this be fair?" he wrote.

He asked the Court of Appeal to "reopen an appeal in order to avoid real injustice in exceptional circumstances."

ShenSmith shared more details about the petition on his YouTube channel, where he said, "The right evidence has been heard in the U.S. trial and decided by a jury, but the problem is that those two decisions are now not in sync. And with two very different decisions, in my view, that isn't justice."

Depp was awarded $15 million in damages, but Heard will only have to pay $10.35 million due to a Virginia law capping punitive damages.

Depp, meanwhile, was found to have defamed his ex-wife on one of three claims in her countersuit. She was awarded $2 million in damages.

In her first post-verdict statement, Heard said, "The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband. I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback."

"It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously," she continued.

Heard's lawyer Elaine Bredehoft said her client plans to appeal the verdict.