Channel 4 documentary Depp vs. Heard is at the moment trending on streaming service Netflix in Britain.
The documentary examines the 2022 American defamation case towards Hollywood actors and former couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the place the lawsuit attracted a number of press and public consideration on the time.
The three-part docuseries first aired on Channel 4 in Britain final yr and has now secured the primary spot within the High 10 trending chart for Netflix UK (the movie was launched internationally on the streamer in summer season 2023).
: Depp vs. Heard: What the Netflix documentary leaves out
In 2018, Depp filed a petition to sue his ex-wife Heard for defamation over an op-ed in The Washington Submitby which she described herself as a “public determine representing home violence” however by no means talked about Depp by identify.
Heard subsequently filed a countersuit, with the trial going down between April and June 2022 in Fairfax, Virginia.
In keeping with the jury’s verdict, Depp acquired $10.35 million in damages after Heard was discovered liable by the courtroom for the three defamation fees he introduced ahead.
In the meantime, Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages after reaching success on one in every of her counterclaims. Depp was held responsible for a press release made by his then lawyer, which the courtroom discovered to be defamatory.
Each events appealed the choice, however dropped their enchantment when the case was settled in December 2022.
: Amber Heard points prolonged assertion after ‘troublesome’ determination to settle defamation case
“This sequence presents each testimonies aspect by aspect for the primary time, exploring the trial that set Hollywood on hearth and the web fallout that adopted,” in keeping with the documentary’s official synopsis.
Episode one, titled ‘Fact on Trial’, begins with the beginning of the trial and sees “Amber and Johnny revisit the start of their relationship and the occasions that soured it”.
The second episode delves into disinformation ‘circulating on social media’ and the peak of public curiosity within the case.
The third and last episode, titled “The Viral Verdict,” revisits the testimony within the case, the decision itself and the way it struck a chord with the #MeToo motion.
The three-part documentary consists primarily of livestream footage of the trial in Virginia in addition to excerpts of televised testimony which have been interpreted and distributed on-line by social media customers.
Two years previous to the US courtroom case examined on this documentary, Depp misplaced a British libel case towards The solar newspaper about an article that referred to as him a “spouse beater”.
In contrast to the US trial, there have been no cameras current on the listening to in Britain and the decision was delivered by a single Excessive Court docket choose, Andrew Nicol, relatively than by a jury.
Mr Justice Nicol stated the British tabloid had confirmed its article was “considerably true”, saying in its ruling that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of home violence “have been confirmed to the civil normal”.
Depp’s request to enchantment the Supreme Court docket’s ruling within the British defamation case was rejected by the Court docket of Enchantment in March 2021.
Depp vs. Heard is now obtainable to stream on Netflix within the UK.
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Emily is an skilled leisure author and editor, masking all issues TV, movie, soaps and showbiz. Emily is an NCTJ certified journalist with a First Class Honors diploma in Journalism from the College of Sussex and has beforehand labored at Howdy journal, BBC South Information And Good to know. She joined Digital Spy in Might 2023 as performing deputy information editor and have become deputy information editor the next yr.
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