Johnny Depp applies to Court of Appeal over 'wife beater' ruling

Disgraced actor Johnny Depp has applied to the Court of Appeal asking to overturn the High Court ruling that he assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard, it's been revealed.

The actor has refused to give up on his legal battle after suing The Sun's publisher for libel after it published a column that called him a "wife beater", reports the Daily Mail.

Depp, 57, brought legal action against the publisher for referring to "overwhelming evidence" that he attacked Heard, 34, during their relationship.

Justice Nicol dismissed the actor's claim in November, finding that what the publisher had written was "substantially true". And he later refused Depp permission to appeal, saying: "I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success."

The ruling found that Depp attacked his ex-wife a dozen times and became a "monster" when he binged on drink and drugs.

Justice Nicol also ordered the actor to make an initial payment of almost £630,000 ($1.2 million) for the publisher's legal fees. It's believed to have cost him £5m ($9.5m) in lawyers' fees.

Depp was given until December 7 to apply to the Court of Appeal to overturn the judgement, and a publicly available list of appeals has revealed he's now filed an application.

It's not known what his grounds of appeal are or when the decision on his application will be made.

Depp has hit back after the High Court ruled that he had abused his ex-wife Amber Heard. Photo / Getty Images

Depp had called the judgement "perverse and bewildering", vowing to appeal the ruling after the court battle, while Heard's lawyers said they weren't surprised by her victory.

Justice Nicol found Heard feared for her life amid incidents on the Eastern and Oriental Express in Southeast Asia in August 2015, and later in LA in the same year.

"A recurring theme in Mr Depp's evidence was that Ms Heard had constructed a hoax and that she had done this as an 'insurance policy', and that Ms Heard was a gold-digger," Justice Nicol said.

But he then added, "I do not accept this characterisation of Ms Heard."