Johnny Depp, Joelle Wealthy and Amber Heard. Shutterstock (3)
Exhibiting her assist. Johnny Depp‘s girlfriend, Joelle Wealthy, was current within the courtroom throughout his defamation trial in opposition to Amber Heard, Us Weekly can verify.
“There was no skilled obligation for her being there,” an insider solely tells Us of the lawyer. “It was private.”
In a single picture from the Could court docket proceedings, Wealthy could be seen hugging Camille Vasquez, one of many attorneys who represented Depp, 59, in his U.S. case in opposition to the Aquaman star, 36. The London-based lawyer was a part of the authorized group that dealt with the Secret Window actor’s U.Okay. libel lawsuit in opposition to The Solar in 2018, however she was not professionally concerned with the Heard case.
Us broke the information on Thursday, September 22, that the Hollywood Vampires musician and the lawyer are in a “severe” relationship. “Their chemistry is off the charts,” an insider defined, noting that the duo “discreetly” met up in lodges earlier than their romance was public. “They’re the actual deal.”
Wealthy, for her half, was married when she met the Kentucky native, however she’s now within the technique of divorcing her husband. She and her estranged partner share two kids.
Along with engaged on Depp’s U.Okay. case, Wealthy represented Meghan Markle in her case in opposition to the publishers of The Mail on Sunday. The Duchess of Sussex, 41, sued the outlet for publishing a non-public letter she despatched to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. In February 2021, the U.Okay.’s Excessive Courtroom dominated that the disclosures from the letter have been “manifestly extreme and therefore illegal.” Ten months later, an appeals court docket rejected the writer’s request to pressure a trial and upheld the unique judgment.
Depp, nonetheless, didn’t win his U.Okay. lawsuit, which was initially filed in June 2018. The Discovering Neverland star sued The Solar for referring to him as a “spouse beater” in an article that cited a number of abuse allegations Heard made in opposition to Depp earlier than their 2016 cut up.
The trial started in July 2020 after delays attributable to the coronavirus pandemic, however the U.Okay.’s Excessive Courtroom in the end dominated that the outlet’s article was not libelous as a result of Heard’s claims about her ex-husband have been “considerably true.”
The Oscar nominee requested an enchantment, however the court docket denied his petition in March 2021. On the time, Wealthy advised Deadline that she “severely questioned” the U.Okay. decide’s resolution to not permit the enchantment.
Depp’s U.S. lawsuit, in the meantime, was filed in early 2019 after Heard printed an op-ed in The Washington Submit the place she described herself as a sufferer of home abuse. That trial started in April, with Vasquez, 38, main the actor’s authorized group.
In June, a jury determined in favor of the 21 Bounce Avenue alum, ordering the Magic Mike XXL star to pay her ex $10.35 million in damages. The Texas native was additionally awarded $2 million in compensatory damages after the jury discovered that one in all Depp’s different attorneys made one defamatory assertion about her.
Heard filed an enchantment in July after a movement for a mistrial was denied. “We imagine the court docket made errors that prevented a simply and honest verdict according to the First Modification,” a spokesperson for the actress advised Us on the time. “We’re subsequently interesting the decision. Whereas we notice at present’s submitting will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we have to take to make sure each equity and justice.”
That very same month, Depp filed his personal enchantment of the choice to award Heard $2 million in damages.
