Category Archives: The Sun

Rebekah Vardy suing Coleen Rooney for libel as last resort, court told

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Footballer’s wife seeking vindication after being accused of leaking stories to the Sun

Rebekah Vardy has brought a libel action against Coleen Rooney only as a last resort to “vindicate her reputation”, the high court was told at a preliminary hearing of the high-profile dispute between the wives of two England footballers.

Vardy has faced “widespread hostility and abuse” as a result of being accused of leaking details about the private life of her former friend, her barrister told the court on Thursday.

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Heard lost public sympathy for standing up against Depp assaults, says QC

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Abused women expected to be ‘meek and subservient’ to receive public sympathy, says QC

Amber Heard’s stand against Johnny Depp’s assaults should not have deprived her of public sympathy for suffering the ordeal of domestic violence, a leading human rights lawyer has said.

Heard was subjected to death threats and misogynistic attacks on social media during the libel trial that left her feeling “down and beleaguered”, according to Helena Kennedy QC, who met Heard while the case was before the high court.

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Johnny Depp’s defeat in libel case hailed by domestic violence charities

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The trial highlighted tactics used to silence and discredit victims, say campaigners

Johnny Depp’s defeat in the London libel courts has been hailed by domestic violence charities as a victory that should encourage other victims to come forward and seek justice.

The judgment on Monday by the high court that the Sun was justified in describing the Pirates of the Caribbean star as a “wife beater” was welcomed by lawyers and campaign groups who support those who have experienced domestic abuse.

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Johnny Depp loses libel case against Sun over claims he beat ex-wife Amber Heard

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Pirates of Caribbean actor had sued newspaper publisher for damage to his reputation

The Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has lost his high-stakes libel action in the London courts against the Sun after the newspaper described him as a “wife beater”.

The high court dismissed the claim by the Pirates of the Caribbean star for compensation at the end of one of the most widely followed libel trials of the century. His lawyers said he would most likely appeal against the “perverse and bewildering decision”.

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Amber Heard ‘placing faith in justice’ as Depp lawyer calls her an abuser

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High court hears closing remarks in three-week libel case exposing couple’s relationship

Amber Heard has spoken of her trauma at reliving the breakup of her marriage, saying she is “placing her faith in British justice” as Johnny Depp’s lawyer branded her a “compulsive liar” and the “abuser” in the couple’s relationship.

As the libel action brought by Depp against the publishers of the Sun newspaper ended on Tuesday, Heard was booed and heckled by Depp fans who have gathered daily outside the high court in London for the proceedings over allegations that the Pirates of the Caribbean star had been violent towards her.

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Star treatment for Depp trial branded ‘galling’ by lawyers amid huge backlog

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Barristers query why court time is allowed during Covid-19 when many urgent family hearings are held remotely

Johnny Depp’s libel trial has been described as “galling” by lawyers at a time when the criminal justice system is struggling with a massive backlog, and deeply sensitive cases are being handled remotely.

One barrister questioned why Depp’s case had been allowed to proceed in person at the High Court in London when she was having to deal over the phone or by Skype with proceedings for a child at risk of being removed from their parents.

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Johnny Depp wanted Amber Heard ‘barefoot, pregnant – and at home’, court told

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Heard became ‘nervous wreck’ at auditions, fearing Depp’s reaction, acting coach says

Johnny Depp wanted Amber Heard “barefoot and pregnant – and at home”, her acting coach told the high court in London as she outlined her growing suspicions that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor was hitting his wife.

Kristina Sexton, Heard’s friend and then acting coach, said she had not seen Depp “hit, kick or throw anything” at Heard, but she was aware of the “volatility” of their relationship and had “overheard some serious fights” while waiting to start her coaching sessions.

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Amber Heard said Johnny Depp tried to suffocate her with pillow, court told

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Makeup artist says she concealed Heard’s cut lip and bruises after alleged attack

Amber Heard had a cut lip and bruises that she said had been inflicted by Johnny Depp, who she said had tried to suffocate her with a pillow, Heard’s regular makeup artist has told a court.

Giving evidence via video link from California, Mélanie Inglessis said she was called by Heard to the Hollywood couple’s penthouse apartment in Los Angeles in December 2015 and helped to conceal the injuries so that Heard could appear on a US chat show the next day apparently unblemished.

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Amber Heard says she punched Johnny Depp to defend her sister

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Actor tells court she feared Depp would push her sister down the stairs like he allegedly did to Kate Moss

Amber Heard has admitted punching her ex-husband Johnny Depp, saying it was to prevent him from pushing her sister down a flight of stairs and claiming he had previously done this to his ex-girlfriend Kate Moss.

Giving evidence for a second day at the high court in London, Heard recalled an incident in March 2015 in the couple’s Los Angeles penthouse when she struck Depp because, she said, she wanted to protect her younger sister Whitney.

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Amber Heard: Johnny Depp threatened to carve up my face

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Court hears testimony from actor’s ex-wife, who says he was abusive and violent

Johnny Depp threatened to carve and disfigure Amber Heard’s face if she left him, repeatedly demeaned her and often physically attacked her, she has told the high court.

Opening the defence case in the libel trial initiated by the Pirates of the Caribbean star, Heard said her former husband insulted her and on one occasion told her: “I’m going to have to watch you get raped.”

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Closest ever images of sun reveal it is covered in miniature flares

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Solar Orbiter images shot from between Venus and Mercury orbits show ‘campfires’ in corona

The closest ever images of the sun reveal its surface is speckled with “campfires”, miniature versions of the dramatic solar flares visible from Earth.

The observations, beamed back from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which is a joint Nasa and European Space Agency (ESA) mission, could help resolve why the sun’s atmosphere is so staggeringly hot compared to the surface – a central paradox in solar physics. Miniature flares have been proposed as a theoretical explanation for the so-called coronal heating problem, but until now no telescope has had a good enough resolution to observe the sun’s atmosphere in sufficient detail.

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Winona Ryder says Johnny Depp was never violent to her

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Ex-partners Ryder and Vanessa Paradis say allegations against actor are ‘impossible to believe’

Two of Johnny Depp’s former partners, Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis, have said he was never abusive or violent towards them and that allegations he is a “wife-beater” were “impossible to believe”.

The two women had been due to give evidence at the high court in London on Thursday via remote video links from the US.

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Amber Heard stole my sexual assault story, ex-aide tells libel trial

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Kate James also says she often received abusive text messages from Johnny Depp’s ex-wife

Amber Heard’s former personal assistant has accused the actor of stealing her own experience of being a victim of sexual violence and twisting it into a different story.

In evidence given remotely from Los Angeles, Kate James also said she had regularly received a barrage of drunken, abusive and incoherent text messages from Heard between 2am and 4am.

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Johnny Depp told bodyguard that Amber Heard ‘cut my finger off’

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Malcolm Connolly invented story that the actor damaged his hand himself, court hears

Johnny Depp’s bodyguard has said the actor initially made up an excuse after his wife allegedly severed his finger during a row because victims often try to protect their abusers.

Giving evidence in Depp’s libel action against the Sun over an article that labelled him a “wife beater”, Malcolm Connolly was questioned about an incident in 2015 when Depp and his then wife, Amber Heard, were in Australia for the filming of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Depp has accused Heard of cutting off the tip of his finger when she hurled a vodka bottle, but wrote at the time that he had caused the injury himself.

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Johnny Depp accused of suffering ‘blackouts’ over violent behaviour

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Court hears allegation that film star was too intoxicated to recall assaulting Amber Heard

The film star Johnny Depp has been accused in court of suffering “blackouts” and having no recollection of his violent past because of his excessive drinking and drug-taking.

During his second day in the witness box at the high court in London, the 57-year-old actor faced allegations that his self-destructive behaviour and jealousy of his ex-wife Amber Heard led him to assault her repeatedly in the course of their four-year relationship.

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Johnny Depp’s barrister tells court Amber Heard invented abuse claims

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Libel case against Sun newspaper over term ‘wife-beater’ begins in UK high court

Amber Heard, not Johnny Depp, was the one who started fights during their marriage, the high court has been told at the start of a libel battle involving the divorced Hollywood actors.

It was Heard who was “the abuser” and who invented claims that her former partner was a “wife-beater”, according to an opening statement submitted to the court by Depp’s barrister, David Sherborne.

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Amber Heard can be in court for Johnny Depp’s evidence, high court rules

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Judge says it would be unfair to stop Heard watching Depp give evidence in libel case over domestic abuse claims

Johnny Depp has failed to stop his ex-wife Amber Heard from watching him give evidence in a libel case over allegations of domestic abuse.

The actor is suing the publisher of the Sun, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article which described Depp as a “wife beater”.

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JK Rowling: UK domestic abuse adviser writes to Sun editor

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Interview with author’s first husband unacceptable, says abuse commissioner

The government’s lead adviser on domestic abuse has written to the editor of the Sun to condemn the newspaper’s decision to publish a front page interview with JK Rowling’s first husband, under the headline: “I slapped JK and I’m not sorry.”

In the letter seen by the Guardian, Nicole Jacobs, the independent domestic abuse commissioner, said it was “unacceptable that the Sun has chosen to repeat and magnify the voice of someone who openly admits to violence against a partner”.

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Woman’s attraction to chandeliers not a sexual orientation, Ipso says

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Amanda Liberty made complaint about article in the Sun mocking declaration of love for German light fitting

A woman in a long-term relationship with a 92-year-old German chandelier has been told that her attraction to historic light fittings is not considered to be a protected sexual orientation.

Press regulator Ipso made the ruling after Amanda Liberty, a woman from Leeds in her mid thirties, complained about an article in the Sun mocking her public declaration of love for Lumiere, her name for an intricate lamp she bought on eBay.

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Johnny Depp’s libel case against the Sun adjourned

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Actor is suing paper over claims he was violent and abusive toward ex-wife Amber Heard

Johnny Depp’s libel case against the Sun over allegations he was violent and abusive towards his ex-wife Amber Heard, which was due to begin on Monday, has been adjourned to a later date.

Mr Justice Nicol made the announcement at the high court on Friday. “I have reached the reluctant conclusion that the trial does have to be adjourned,” he said.

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