Johnny Depp and His Lawyer Girlfriend Joelle Rich Call It Quits? Here’s What We Know

Johnny Depp and his former U.K. lawyer and girlfriend Joelle Rich have called it quits. Back in September, PEOPLE reported that a source confirmed that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor and the London-based lawyer were “dating, but it’s not serious.” Now two months into seeing each other, the pair have split up. Rich and Depp met during his libel case against The Sun. She was a part of his legal team for the case, which he lost in November 2020.

The actor had sued the U.K. newspaper, The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater”. However, the court ruled in favour of The Sun, calling the claims as being “substantially true”. This was because Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard testified to back up the claims. Furthermore, his attempt to overturn the decision was overruled, in March 2021.

Bollywood Life reported that the pair began dating when Depp was fighting against his ex-wife Amber Heard in the Fairfax Court of Virginia. Rich was not a part of the case. They also reported that the actor did receive some criticism for dating someone who is separated from her husband, and a mother of two. Especially because Rich was yet to formally divorce her husband.

Meanwhile, the actor has previously found himself in the spotlight during the Depp v. Heard trial that began in April 2022 till June 1, 2022. He had sued actress Amber Heard for defamation in her 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post about domestic violence, though she didn’t mention him by name. She had mentioned herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The Edward Scissorhands actor won that case as the jury ruled in his favour. Depp was awarded $15 million in damages, including $5 million in punitive damages. However, the judge capped it at $350,000, the legal limit in Virginia. Heard had also filed three defamation countersuit claims and won one. She was awarded $2 million. Johnny Depp is appealing the only win Amber Heard got in the case.