Johnny Depp loses minor battle amid Amber Heard defamation lawsuit

Johnny Depp has face a major below only a month before official hearing in Amber Heard defamation trial.

Judge Penney Azarte has ruled against Depp's stance in establishing that the former wife should not be allowed to invoke Virginia's Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) provision in her $100 million countersuit.

The lawsuit came about after Heard wrote accused ex-husband of domestic abuse and emotional distress.

"I became a public figure representing domestic abuse," she wrote in the polarizing article. "And I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out."