Dan Wootton apologises to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard over article

Dan Wootton has apologised for an article in which he referred to 'wife-beater Johnny Depp'. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealander Dan Wootton, the journalist and broadcaster, has apologised to Johnny Depp for his article which instigated the actor’s court battle involving Amber Heard.

While working for The Sun, Wootton wrote a column with the phrase “wife beater Johnny Depp” in the headline, prompting the Hollywood star to launch an ultimately unsuccessful legal action for libel.

The bitter 2020 High Court legal battle resulted in Depp and his former partner Amber Heard trading accusations of domestic abuse.

The Sun won the case, but Wootton has now apologised for getting involved and prompting the legal circus in which Depp and Heard’s personal details were shared with the world.

Speaking in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, the 40-year-old said: “Today, I’m sorry, to both Johnny and Amber for contributing to their heartache.”

He added: “I should have never have gotten involved in the carnival of commentary on the catastrophic breakdown of Johnny’s relationship.”

After being falsely accused by a deranged ex, why I now admit it was wrong to ever get involved in Johnny Depp’s private life.https://t.co/preZln2ZWC pic.twitter.com/l9X9pXYYmo

— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) March 15, 2024

Wootton himself has faced allegations that he had used a pseudonym to solicit explicit images from former colleagues.

He has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Johnny Depp lost the High Court case in London, but in 2022 he won a US libel case against Heard, to whom he was married from 2015 to 2017. Photo / Getty Images

The broadcaster said the experience had alerted him to people who have the goal of “destroying a famous person’s life”.

He said that during Depp’s High Court case in 2020, as “salacious and unfortunate details of a clearly troubled relationship were revealed to the world,” he “began to realise the whole thing had been a mistake”.

Wootton added he now “greatly and profoundly” regrets that he interfered in the couple’s business.

Depp lost the High Court case in London, but in 2022 he won a US libel case against Heard, to whom he was married from 2015 to 2017.

Wootton recently quit GB News to launch his own independent platform.

He announced that he was leaving the channel in the wake of a “chilling” Ofcom report, released on Monday, which found that misogynistic comments made by the actor Laurence Fox on his show broke broadcasting rules.

Fox asked: “Who would want to shag that?” about journalist Ava Evans on the channel’s Dan Wootton Tonight programme during an episode on Sept 26.