Depp leaves UK court after first day of libel trial

Johnny Depp left the High Court on Tuesday after he gave evidence in a libel case in which he is suing British tabloid The Sun over a story it ran in 2018 which claimed he was abusive towards his ex-wife Amber Heard.

At the trial, which is due to last three weeks, Depp said that his ex-wife Amber Heard had made “sick” claims of abuse and falsely branded him a monster.

The libel case hinges on who was the aggressor in the celebrity couple’s violent, toxic relationship.

Depp is suing British tabloid The Sun over an April 2018 story headlined “Potty - How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star strongly denies Heard's claims that he assaulted her during their tempestuous marriage, and sued The Sun's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton.

The trial is one of the first to be held in person since Britain began to lift its coronavirus lockdown.