Johnny Depp ‘launches multi-million dollar court case against Amber Heard’ one month after trial

Amber Heard is bracing herself for a second bruising court battle with her ex-husband Johnny Depp – even if the Pirates of the Caribbean star loses his high-profile libel case against The Sun newspaper.

As the actress yesterday flew home from a holiday in Turkey ahead of a verdict – expected as early as this week – in the dramatic High Court fight between Depp and The Sun, her legal team are preparing for a potential fresh clash in the American courts.

The Mail on Sunday understands that Ms Heard’s lawyers expect Depp, 57, to serve papers in America that could result in her once more giving evidence in court about their marriage and contested allegations that she suffered three years of domestic abuse at his hands.

Mr Depp denies the claims and says his ex-wife was violent towards him.

Depp, who gave days of vivid evidence at London’s High Court in July, is already taking action against the 34-year-old actress in the US state of Virginia over a column that she wrote for the Washington Post newspaper in December 2018.

While the article did not mention Depp by name, she described herself as becoming ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse’ – which his lawyers argue had the effect of falsely portraying him as wife beater.

A source close to the actress said: ‘Amber’s team are super nervous about him suing again, this time in the States. It seems that he will stop at nothing to ruin her.

‘No matter what the outcome [of Depp’s case against The Sun], Amber is preparing for round two, but if Johnny wins his case against The Sun then that’s it, he will go and go. This could go on for years to come.’

This weekend, Miss Heard posted social media photographs from her break in Turkey, including one of her holding a glass of red wine while sitting on the front of a boat.

Another snap was taken at Cappadocia, known for its ‘fairy chimneys’ of tall, cone-shaped rock formations.

The actress gave evidence at the High Court as part of The Sun’s defence against Depp’s libel claim over a December 2018 article it published that referred to him as a ‘wife-beater’.

The three-week hearing heard sensational details of their relationship, including that Depp branded her ‘Amber T***’ because he believed that she had soiled the marital bed after a row at her 30th birthday party. She denied the claim.

It was also alleged that Depp – who is expected to begin filming on the second instalment of JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts next month – used his damaged finger to write ‘I love you’ on a mirror after it was severed during a clash with Ms Heard in 2015.

Depp’s barrister David Sherborne described the actress as a ‘compulsive liar’ who had ‘tailored her story to meet the evidence’.