Relief for Johnny Depp as UK court refuses to reject his case against newspaper

Hollywood star Johnny Depp's case against a UK newspaper over claims that he abused his ex-wife will not be dismissed, a UK court ruled on Thursday.

The court decided that the actor's case can go ahead next week. 

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star is suing The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, at London’s High Court for libel over an article Wootton wrote in 2018 calling Depp a “wife beater”.

Last week, Judge Andrew Nicol ruled that Depp had not fully complied with a court order by not supplying details of mobile phone texts to his assistant which the Sun’s legal team said referred to obtaining drugs for the actor.

The paper’s lawyer, Adam Wolanski, argued that the breach meant that the case should be thrown out, but Nicol said on Thursday that would not be just.

“The claim is far advanced and the trial is imminent,” he said. “Despite the breach which I have found and despite Mr. Wolanski’s submissions, I am not persuaded that the trial of the claim would be unfair.”