7h 1min, nov 4, 2020 y - THE TIMES Johnny Depp fans turn against judge who ruled against him in Amber Heard case

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Johnny Depp fans turn against judge who ruled against him in Amber Heard case

By David Brown

The judge who ruled that Johnny Depp had physically and sexually assaulted his former wife is facing an online campaign from the actor’s fans to have him “fired”.

Mr Justice Nicol found that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor had assaulted Amber Heard 12 times and left her in fear for her life as he dismissed Depp’s libel claim against The Sun for calling him a wife-beater.

A vicious social media campaign against Heard, which has led to her suing Depp in the United States for $100 million, has expanded with a petition against Mr Justice Nicol after his 129-page judgment in the High Court on Monday.

The petition on the change.org website, which had been signed by almost 1,000 people yesterday, was headlined: “Justice Nicol needs to be fired!”

In a paragraph riddled with mistakes, including the actors’ names, it continued: “Justice Nicol, even after being presented with independent evidence that Jonny Depp is a victim of Domestic Abuse victim, Justice Nicol took it upon himself to ignore this and side with Amber herd who presented false statements and no evidence. Looks Like Justice Nicol could do with some training on Domestic abuse. And that men can be victims too!”

The judge said that he had accepted Heard’s claim that making the allegations against Depp has had a “negative effect on her career”.

She told the court that she had “been subjected to a campaign of targeted online abuse”.

Nicki Norman, of Women’s Aid, criticised the online abuse Heard had received. She said: “Despite Heard being called as a witness in the libel case, and despite her being vindicated by the judge’s detailed and careful verdict, social media is filled with hate-filled comments directed towards Heard.”

Depp, 57, faces questions over his future as he prepares to give a deposition in Virginia next Wednesday in his $50 million libel claim against Heard over an article she wrote in The Washington Post. His case could be dismissed if he fails to attend. Heard, 34, is countersuing, with her lawyers announcing that they are preparing to submit “more voluminous evidence”.

Heard has accused her former husband of using “dozens if not hundreds of bots” to spread online abuse and to have orchestrated several petitions targeting her on change.org.

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