‘At peace’ Johnny Depp confirmed to join Jeff Beck in Scotland as part of UK tour

Johnny Depp will join Jeff Beck for the remainder of his UK tour as the Hollywood actor said he “feels at peace” after winning his multi-million-dollar US defamation lawsuit against former wife Amber Heard.

Depp, 58, who on Wednesday won his US defamation lawsuit against former wife Heard, 36, had previously surprised audiences and fans when he joined Beck on stage in Sheffield and at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The actor, who previously collaborated with Beck on the 2020 track Isolation, will now perform in Glasgow, Gateshead, Manchester, Birmingham and York.

Depp sued Aquaman star Heard for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post, titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA - MAY 27: Actor Johnny Depp smokes during a break in his trial at a Fairfax County Courthouse on May 27, 2022 in Fairfax, Virginia. Closing arguments in the Depp v. Heard defamation trial, brought by Johnny Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard, begins today. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Leading reputation management lawyer Mark Stephens has said he feels the actor and Heard have both created “indelible stains” on their careers.

Mr Stephens, a partner at Howard Kennedy and expert in reputation management, who was not involved in the case, said: “I think they both got indelible stains. That’s a major problem for people who make their livings by their reputation.”

In 2020, Depp took a similar libel action case to the UK court against The Sun newspaper over an article which labelled him a “wife beater”.

However, in this instance, Mr Justice Nicol dismissed the Pirates Of The Caribbean star’s claim, saying News Group Newspapers (NGN) had proved what was in the article to be “substantially true” and this was later affirmed by the Court of Appeal.

Mr Stephens noted that, initially, he does feel Depp has come out of the US court case “ahead” of Heard, given the financial and reputational damages.

The lawyer stated his theory for the differing outcomes was based on the UK case being decided upon by a judge while the US case was voted on by a jury.

In b oth countries the same legal device called DARVO was applied, where lawyers deny the allegations, attack the reputation of the victim, and then reverse the roles by saying the defendant is the perpetrator and vice versa.