On the latest stop of his UK tour, days after winning a multimillion-dollar defamation trial against Amber Heard, Johnny Depp was spotted holding a badger cub in Kent.
“Guess who’s been to see us,” Folly Wildlife Rescue Trust wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, which received thousands of likes. “That’s the real Johnny Depp!”
The actor visited during a break from touring with the musician Jeff Beck, a patron of the charity. Depp accompanied Beck’s wife, Sandra, the charity wrote, as they toured the hospital and he held an orphaned badger cub, Freddie – “as in Mercury”, it added.
The US defamation trial ended in Depp’s favour on Wednesday, with the court finding that a Washington Post editorial that Heard wrote had defamed her former husband.
Three of Depp’s claims were supported, to one of three claims by Heard. The parties were awarded $10.35m (£8.25m) and $2m respectively, in what has led to an outcry from experts in the field of sexual and domestic violence, who variously called the verdict a “toxic catastrophe” and a “setback for all women”. Heard plans to appeal.
In a statement after the verdict, Depp said “the jury gave me my life back”, six years after he was accused of domestic abuse. “I am truly humbled,” he said.
On the charity’s Facebook post, one user wrote: “Be nice if he donated his settlement to you, he doesn’t need the money!” Another said: “How fantastic! What a lovely way for him to wind down after a horrendous time!”
The libel case outcome differed from one in the UK less than two years ago. In 2020, Depp lost a case against the Sun after Heard gave evidence to support claims in the newspaper that he was a “wife beater”. The judge found that 12 of 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence against Heard had occurred.
On Tuesday night, before the US verdict, Depp appeared on stage alongside the 77-year-old Beck at the Royal Albert Hall for a second night in a row, and was greeted with a standing ovation. Before that he had made a surprise appearance at the musician’s Sheffield show.
His presence in the UK surprised many as he awaited the verdict of what turned into one of Hollywood’s most toxic and highly televised legal battles. After the US verdict, Heard’s lead attorney said the seven-member jury had been influenced by “lopsided” social media posts and that the presence of cameras had transformed the courtroom into a “zoo”.
Folly Wildlife Rescue works to save and rehabilitate injured, orphaned and distressed wild animals throughout west Kent and the surrounding area.
Beck’s UK tour continues at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Friday before continuing to Manchester, Birmingham and elsewhere.
Speaking to fans in the north of England on Thursday night, Depp reportedly quipped about the middle finger he alleged his ex-wife partially severed in a domestic fight, one of the key points in the civil case.
“You have five, I have four and seven eighths,” Depp reportedly said to a child. “Mad.”
During the US trial, Depp said he was injured in 2015 by a smashed vodka bottle, which Heard had thrown. In the final week of testimony, a witness surgeon for Heard testified Depp could not have lost the tip of his finger in the way he had recounted.
