ABC/Randy Holmes(LONDON) — A judge in a London court handed Johnny Depp a legal defeat in his libel case against the U.K. tabloid The Sun. 

The suit stemmed from an article that was published April 27, 2018 that branded Depp a “wife beater” during his messy marriage to Aquaman actress Amber Heard — something the actor has repeatedly denied.

In documents available online, Judge Andrew Nicol dismissed Depp’s case, writing, “Although he has proved the necessary elements of his cause of action in libel, the defendants have shown that what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true.”

After examining 14 incidents between the former couple brought forth during the trial, the judge concluded, “It has not been necessary to consider the fairness of the article or the defendants’ ‘malice’ because those are immaterial to the statutory defense of truth.”

Throughout the months-long case, both parties had leveled abuse claims against the other. Heard showed bruises purportedly caused by the actor, while Depp insists it was Heard who got physical with him, punching him repeatedly and at one point cutting off the tip of his finger with a thrown vodka bottle.

During the case, Depp’s lawyers called the paper’s description of his client a “reputation-destroying, career-ending allegation.”

By Stephen Iervolino
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