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| Joelle Rich & johnny depp |
Johnny Depp is dating one of his UK libel case lawyers, Joel Rich, a source confirms to PEOPLE.
"They are dating but it's not serious," says the source.
Rich is a London lawyer who was on Depp's legal team, 59, during his defamation case against The Sun, which he lost in November 2020. He sued the newspaper for calling him a "wife beater" but the court upheld it.
The outlet's claims are "substantially true" and his ex-wife Amber Heard testified to support the claims. In March 2021, his attempt to overturn the decision was rejected.
Depp's new romantic interest wasn't among his lawyers in a defamation lawsuit against Heard, 36, this year in Fairfax County, Virginia.
He won that case; A jury found that Heard defamed her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic violence, though she did not mention him by name.
Depp was awarded more than $10 million in damages, and Heard, meanwhile, won one of her three defamation counterclaims and was awarded $2 million. (They are both appealing the decision.)
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| Joelle Rich & johnny depp on may 03,2022 |
Although Rich was not on Depp's legal team this time, she made several court appearances to show her support. She was photographed with Depp outside court on May 3, and was pictured hugging Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez inside the courtroom on May 16.
Us Weekly was the first to report the relationship news
According to his bio, Rich "helps individuals and families protect their privacy and reputation in the public eye" and "specializes in libel, privacy and copyright disputes."
She works to "defend [clients'] reputations against false and defamatory allegations in print, online and on social media."
His firm last year also represented Meghan Markle in a case against the publishers of the Mail on Sunday.
Ever since the Virginia defamation case earlier this year, speculation has been rife about Depp's romantic life. People on social media started a rumor that his lawyer Vasquez was dating a movie star client — which he denied in an interview with People and called "s**xist."
"I guess it's just being a woman doing her job," Vasquez said. "It's disappointing that some outlets went along with it or said that my conversations with Johnny — who's a friend and I've known and represented him for four and a half years now — that my conversations with any Was inappropriate or unprofessional. Disappointed to hear that."
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| Joelle rich hugs camille vasquez on may 16,2022 |
"I care deeply about my clients, and we've obviously become close.
However, when I say we, I mean the entire group, and obviously that incorporates Johnny," Vasquez added. said "And, I'm from Cuba and Colombia. I'm tactile. What do you want me to say? I hug everybody And I'm not ashamed of that.
The mystery woman was photographed helping them with their bags as they got out of a car and drove away a music rehearsal in July, fans speculated that this was a possible new relationship. May be.
However, a source close to Depp clarified to PEOPLE that she was Depp's French teacher for his upcoming film Jean du Barry and "there was no romantic relationship; strictly professional."
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