The 'Pirates of Caribbean' actor plans to take the British newspaper to court, accusing the Rupert Murdoch news company of 'multiple breaches' of his privacy.
- May 14, 2020
AceShowbiz - Johnny Depp is set to take legal action against the publisher of British newspaper The Sun over alleged phone hacking.
Depp is already suing The Sun's executive editor, Dan Wootton and its publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over a 2018 article which referred to him as a "wife-beater" in reference to allegations made by his ex-wife Amber Heard during their divorce.
His lawyer, Adam Waldman, confirmed to WENN that "The Pirates of the Caribbean" actor had filed a new letter of claim against News Group Newspapers stating that he intends to pursue legal action alleging "multiple breaches" of his privacy - including phone hacking.
"Johnny Depp continues his zero tolerance policy for illegal activity directed against him," Waldman said in a statement. "The Sun and its sister entity illegally hacked hundreds of people over a period of years, as evidenced by the tens of millions of pounds they have already paid out to dozens of their victims."
"Johnny Depp will show that Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers targeted Mr. Depp too, illegally obtaining information about some of the most personal and intimate occurrences in his life."
In his letter, first reported by The Blast website, Depp explains that his team has conducted an investigation and he believes his phone was hacked between the years 1996 and 2010 - and that The Sun ran "intrusive" stories about his private life during the period.
These include stories about his then partner Vanessa Paradis' pregnancies in 1998 and 2002, as well as his daughter Lily-Rose Depp's 2007 hospitalisation for kidney failure.
Representatives for The Sun did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2011, The Sun's sister newspaper The News of the World was closed down after a scandal over accusations its reporters accessed the voicemail inboxes of British celebrities and that of a teenage murder victim Milly Dowler. Stars including Elton John and actress Elizabeth Hurley have accepted payouts from NGN after bringing legal cases over alleged phone hacking.
