Johnny Depp Settles Assault Lawsuit
Johnny Depp will not be making an encore appearance in court later this month, as his attorneys have reached a settlement with a City of Lies crew member who alleged the actor punched him on set in 2017.
Depp had been scheduled to go to a civil trial in Los Angeles on July 25, less than two months after winning his defamation battle in a Virginia courtroom against ex-wife Amber Heard.
Gregg Rocky Brooks, a location manager, sued Depp in 2018, alleging that Depp became angry after Brooks informed him they had to stop filming for the night.
According to the suit, the production had a permit to shoot at the Barclay Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, but the permit expired at 10 p.m. Depp wanted to go later to get a longer version of a scene, and Brooks was able to get two extensions. But at 11 p.m., he was told he would have to shut it down.
Brooks first informed the director, Brad Furman, who responded: Why don’t you tell that to Johnny Depp?
Brooks tried to get a police officer to help him break the news, at which point Depp began to shout, Who the fuck are you? You have no right to tell me what to do!, according to the lawsuit.
Depp allegedly punched Brooks twice in the lower rib cage, according to the lawsuit. Brooks claimed that Depp had alcohol on his breath, and shouted I will give you $100,000 to punch me in the face right now!
The case was set for a final status conference before trial on Tuesday. On Monday, the notice of settlement was sent to the judge. The suit is expected to be dismissed once the settlement is completed. No terms were disclosed.
Depp was represented by Camille Vasquez, the attorney who became popular among Depp’s fans after cross-examining Heard in the defamation trial.
Amber Heard Speaks Out for First Time on Johnny Depp Verdict: I ‘Understand’ Jury, but Social Media Amber Heard has given her first sit-down interview following the verdict in her latest legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Last month a jury in Virginia ruled she had defamed Depp in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed published under her byline. In the op-ed, she spoke about being a victim of domestic violence. The Aquaman actor has been ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages after he successfully persuaded the court his career and reputation had been damaged as a result of the article.
Depp previously lost a similar case in the U.K. after he sued tabloid newspaper The Sun over an article which called him a wifebeater. In that case a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to back-up the allegation. Now Heard has sat down with Savannah Guthrie for an interview set to air Tuesday and Wednesday on NBC’s Today. In the interview, Heard tells Guthrie that she understands why the Virginia jury reached their verdict in favor of Depp. I don’t blame them, Heard said. I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.
The extended negative social media coverage she faced, Heard said she believed her treatment had been unfair. I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage, behind closed doors. I don’t presume the average person should know those things. And so I don’t take it personally, Heard said.
But even somebody who is sure I’m deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media there’s been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.