Johnny Depp's libel lawsuit in the U.K. has taken another interesting turn, not because of what happened, but because of what will no longer be happening. While we were expecting something of a showdown of Johnny Depp's former partners to take place during the trial, that will not take place, as Depp's side has now decided not to call either Winona Ryder or Vanessa Paradis in the case. Depp's barrister David Sherborne informed the court that there was simply no need to hear from them.
Winona Ryder was scheduled to testify via a video link on Wednesday but it seems the rest of the proceedings ran long and her testimony was delayed. Vanessa Paradis was scheduled to testify today. Both women provided pre-trial statements in which they both claimed Johnny Depp had never been violent towards them. Depp's libel lawsuit against The Sun surrounds a 2018 article in which the actor was called a "wife-beater," following allegations made by Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard.
Since the initial allegations that led to The Sun article were made by Heard, and Johnny Depp's defense is that he was never violent towards the actress, Deadline reports that the decision was made that the testimony of Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis was simply not needed.
While it seems that initially, the idea was to use the testimony of Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis to show a pattern of behavior that Johnny Depp was not violent, the feeling now is that the case needs to simply respond to the allegations made by Amber Heard, and that simply showing that the actor was not violent previously is not sufficient. The Sun's defense, in this case, is that the statement is true, based on Amber Heard's public comments, so there's really nothing that Paradis or Ryder can add to that.
While Winona Ryder testifying on Johnny Depp's behalf certainly would have been interesting and might have revealed some previously unknown details about their relationship, one wonders if anything said could possibly top what's already happened. We've seen allegations that multiple forms of human waste were allegedly used by either Johnny Depp or Amber Heard against the other. And there are pictures of some of it. This case is wild.
And this is only one of two legal matters involving the two actors that we'll be seeing. Next month a defamation lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp against Amber Heard is set to go to trial. The actor claims that a Washington Post op-ed written by Heard about her history of dealing with abuse led to Disney making the decision to move on from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise without him.
While a couple of witnesses are no longer testifying, we almost certainly have not heard the end of this case.
