Amber Heard spends the evening watching Lily Allen's play in London's West End... as Johnny Depp proceeds with $50M libel case against her
- The actress, 35, headed to the West End to see Lily Allen's 2:22 play
- Her ex Depp won the right to move forward with libel suit against Amber Heard
- She had requested the case be thrown out following the UK ruling against Depp
- UK court ruled against Depp in November in libel case over British tabloid piece
- The court ruled 'wife beater' statement against actor, 58, was 'substantially true'
Amber Heard enjoyed a night out at the theatre on Sunday, after her ex-husband Johnny Depp was cleared by a court to proceed with a $50 million defamation suit against the actress.
Despite the ongoing drama, the Aquaman actress, 35, seemed in good spirits as she prepared to watch 2:22 A Ghost Story, which stars Lily Allen, at the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End.
The Texas-born beauty posed outside the theatre in a black blazer with gold buttons and dark pants in an Instagram post captioned: 'What a great feeling to be back in a theatre again,' with a performing arts emoji of Greek masks.
Out on the town: Amber Heard spent the evening watching Lily Allen's play in London's West End on Sunday... while ex Johnny Depp proceeded with his $50M libel case against her
Heard was seen out days after a Virginia judge on Tuesday ruled Depp can proceed with the litigation, based on a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she penned saying she was a domestic violence survivor.
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She did not mention Depp in the story, though she publicly accused him of abusing her in their 2016 split.
Depp, 58, is trying to clear his name after losing a defamation suit against The Sun after the paper branded him a 'wife-beater' amid allegations of domestic abuse.
Theatre fun: The Texas-born beauty posed outside the theatre in a black blazer with gold buttons and dark pants in an Instagram post
Depp's suit, filed in Fairfax County, Virginia, accuses Heard of creating a 'hoax' account; Heard had requested the libel suit against her, filed in March 2019, be thrown out, claiming the ruling in the UK case should swing any new cases in her favor because they both relate to domestic abuse allegations against Depp.
But Judge Penny Azcarate ruled the statements made by The Sun and Heard were 'inherently different.'
The ruling stated: 'The Sun's interests were based on whether the statements the newspaper published were false. [Heard's] interests relate to whether the statements she published were false.'
One to watch: Heard was watching 2:22 A Ghost Story, which stars Lily Allen and Hadley Fraser (pictured) at London's Noel Coward Theatre
The ruling also noted Depp filed the defamation suit against The Sun before Heard's op-Ed was published - and that she was not named in the case against the British paper.
In the December 2018 op-Ed, Heard wrote: 'I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out.'
The UK's High Court ruled against Depp following an explosive three-week trial last July, finding allegations the actor was a 'wife beater' were 'substantially true.'
The judge ruled that Depp assaulted Heard on a dozen occasions and put her in 'fear of her life' three times often while on drink and drugs binges, which he said turned the actor into a 'monster' in one of the most high-profile libel clashes in recent years.
Sue: Depp has won the right to sue Amber Heard (pictured together in November 2011) in a $50 million libel case after a Virginia judge threw out the actress's plea to dismiss the suit
Lawyers for The Pirates of the Caribbean star had asked two Court of Appeal judges to grant permission for him to challenge the ruling, with the aim of having its findings overturned and a second trial ordered.
They claimed the judge in Depp's initial libel trial had not 'factually' considered all the allegations of violence against him and that they had 'fresh evidence' Heard had 'lied' about giving her entire $7 million divorce settlement to charity.
They said that the charity claim influenced how her testimony was viewed, but the Court of Appeal ruled that it did not have an impact on the judge and that he would have reached the same conclusion on Heard being the victim of domestic violence.
Depp lost his role in Warner Bros Fantastic Beasts following the High Court judgment, and the damage to his reputation risks him losing out on more roles in the future.
Claims: The High Court libel case heard a string of claims about the nature of Depp's relationship with his ex-wife Amber Heard, left, and was nicknamed the trial of the century
