The 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' star has been sued for allegedly physically assaulting crew member Gregg 'Rocky' Brooks on the set of the movie in 2017.
- Jul 12, 2022
AceShowbiz - Johnny Depp has scored another legal victory. The "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" star has reached a tentative settlement in his "City of Lies (2021)" lawsuit ahead of its trial.
The Hollywood actor was sued for allegedly assaulting crew member Gregg "Rocky" Brooks on the set of the movie. Brooks accused the 59-year-old actor of "maliciously and forcefully" punching him twice in his ribs before saying he'd pay the location manager $100,000 to "punch [him] in the face" in April 2017 and claimed he suffered "physical pain and emotional and psychological injury" as a result.
In his legal documents, he slammed Depp over his conduct, alleging he "was intentional and malicious and done for the purpose of causing plaintiff to suffer humiliation." And he claimed Depp's "intoxication and temper created a hostile, abusive and unsafe work environment," which eventually resulted in him allegedly being assaulted by Depp during filming of the crime thriller.
Brooks claimed he was eventually fired from the movie when he refused to sign a release waiving his right to sue over the incident. However, on Monday, July 11, a notice of settlement was filed in court and Depp has been instructed to carry out "specified terms" by August.
The filing obtained by The Hollywood Reporter read, "The settlement agreement conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms that are not to be performed within 45 days of the date of the settlement. A request for dismissal will be filed no later than 1/5/2023."
The case faces being reopened should the "Blow" actor not carry out the terms, which have not been made public at this time.
When reports of an alleged altercation were first raised in 2018, director Brad Furman defended Depp and praised the actor as a "consummate professional." He said in a statement, "Johnny Depp is a consummate professional, great collaborator and a supporter of other artists."
"He always treats the crew and people around him with the utmost respect," he went on saying. "Movies can be stressful, and non-events often become exaggerated. We all love stories, there isn't one here."
"City of Lies", a drama focused on the investigation of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur's murders which also stars Forest Whitaker, was initially pulled from its release schedule in 2018 before coming out in 2021.
Depp settling the lawsuit comes just over a month after his ex-wife Amber Heard was ordered to pay her ex-husband $10.35 million in compensatory and punitive damages after a jury in Virginia ruled she had defamed him when she wrote an article in 2018 about being a victim of domestic abuse, while she was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages for her countersuit.
However, Heard's lawyers have since made a filing in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County claiming the "Aquaman" actress, 36, is entitled to a mistrial "based on newly discovered facts and information" that one of the jurors present for the case was not the one summoned for jury duty.
Depp is arguing for the denial of Heard's request for a mistrial in their defamation case.
