12 h, jul 30, 2021 y - MEDIA COVERAGE 30 July - 5 Aug 2021 Johnny Depp Wins Motion To Force ACLU To Reveal Whether Amber Heard Paid The Millions She Promised After Divorce
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FROM USA TODAY:Judge sides with Johnny Depp: ACLU must reveal if Amber Heard donated $7M divorce settlement
by Charles Trepany
Johnny Depp has notched a victory in his lengthy legal battle against ex-wife Amber Heard.
A New York judge has partially granted a petition from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star to determine if Heard donated the entirety of her $7 million divorce settlement to the American Civil Liberties Union and to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, as she pledged.
As a result of the ruling, the ACLU must release documents that confirm whether or not Heard followed through on the donation promise, which has become a point of contention in the former couple's legal saga.
“Mr. Depp is most gratified by the Court’s decision," Depp's attorney Benjamin Chew said in a statement to USA TODAY.
USA TODAY has reached out to Heard's attorney and to the ACLU for comment.
In November, Depp lost a libel lawsuit in London against the publisher of The Sun tabloid, which had labeled him a "wife beater" in a 2018 headline after Heard accused him of abuse in Los Angeles in 2016 as they were ending their short, volatile marriage. The case pitted Depp against a powerful tabloid and its editor, with Heard as their star witness.
In March, Depp was refused an appeal after his lawyer Andrew Caldecott argued that Heard's donation pledge was a “calculated and manipulative lie" that "tipped the scales against Mr. Depp from the very beginning."
Caldecott also alleged one of Heard's intended charitable beneficiaries, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, wrote to Depp's business adviser in 2019 saying Heard had not made any payments.
Lawyers for The Sun's publisher rejected the arguments in court in March, saying Heard did not lie about the donations because she was pledging to pay the sums over 10 years. She had made “a number of payments already in pursuance of these pledges," said Adam Wolanski, representing News Group Newspapers.
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12 h, jul 30, 2021 y
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~ 3 years and 10 months ago