Johnny Depp was recently dealt a blow when he lost his libel case against NgN and The Sun tabloid. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 57, has also been ordered to pay £628,000 in legal costs to The Sun for his failed libel action against the newspaper.
But determined to see justice done, Johnny Depp wrote a note on his Instagram saying that he intended to appeal.
The first step in the appeal process is to get permission to move forward with the appeal. As promised, Johnny did indeed file for an appeal. But I'm sorry to say that permission to move forward with the appeal was denied. By the same judge that found against him in the first place, (in)Justice Nicol.
Got that? The SAME JUDGE that found against Johnny in the first place turned down his bid for an appeal, saying that he did not believe that Johnny's appeal had a "reasonable prospect of success. In any event, I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success (and that is also the case so far as the grounds of appeal suggest that I erred in principle or in law) and there is not some other compelling reason why permission to appeal should be granted."
In his ruling Mr. (in)Justice Nicol wrote: "The findings of fact by a first instance tribunal (particularly one, such as myself, who has heard oral evidence) are rarely open to challenge on appeal."
But that's not the end of Johnny's appeal. Apparently, going through (in)justice Nicol for the first part of the appeal was just a step that had to be taken as a matter of routine. Now, Johnny can take the case directly to the Court of Appeal.
That's the good news. Most likely, Johnny's appeal has every chance of being victorious, meaning that the original court finding will be overturned.
The bad news is that the appeal process could take as long as 2 years. Anything can happen in that time, and that's a long time for an actor to wait between roles, if the verdict is held against him in Hollywood.
Rumor has it though, that Robert Downey Jr is talking about including Johnny in an upcoming project. And Johnny is reportedly in talks about upcoming projects with Netflix. So Johnny's acting future might not be as dismal as it might seem with him booted from both Pirates and Fantastic Beasts 3. It looks like he'll rise above this nonsense.
Still, up to 2 years is a long time to wait.
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