2013
– 8 March: Mr Depp allegedly tries to set fire to a painting by Ms Heard’s ex-partner Tasya van Ree before he is said to have attacked her for the first time, which the actor denies.
2015
– 3 February: The couple marry in a private ceremony at their home in Los Angeles.
– 3-5 March: The key incident in The Sun’s defence, the three-day trip to Australia has been described by Ms Heard as a ‘three-day hostage situation’ in which Mr Depp was allegedly physically and verbally abusive while drinking heavily and taking drugs.
Mr Depp denies the allegations and says Ms Heard lost her temper after a conversation about a post-nuptial agreement.
– 21 April: The couple arrive in Australia with their pet Yorkshire Terriers Boo and Pistol, which they did not declare to customs officials in Queensland. Ms Heard was charged later with bringing the dogs into the country illegally – the charges were later dropped and the pair later recorded a bizarre video apologising for bringing their dogs to Australia.
2016
– Around 22 May: The pair separated, Ms Heard claims after an incident at their LA penthouse in which Mr Depp allegedly became very angry and destroyed property with a bottle of champagne.
– 23 May: Ms Heard files petition for the dissolution of their marriage.
– 27 May: Ms Heard applies for a temporary domestic violence restraining order, which prevents Mr Depp from contacting her.
– 16 August: The estranged couple reach an agreement concerning the dissolution of their marriage. Ms Heard later donates her seven million US dollar (£5.5 million) settlement to charity.
2017
– 13 January: The couple are formally divorced.
2018
– 27 April: The column by The Sun’s executive editor Dan Wootton is published online at around 10pm. Under the headline “Gone Potty – How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”, Mr Wootton asked if the Harry Potter author had been ‘blinded by a personal friendship’ with Mr Depp.
The piece also quoted two alleged victims of disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, which Mr Depp says was included to ‘finish his career’.
– 28 April: The following day, the online article is amended to remove the words ‘wife beater’ from the headline, which was not included in the print edition.
– 1 June: Mr Depp files his libel claim against News Group Newspapers. His written claim, filed a few weeks later, claims the article ‘caused serious harm to (his) personal and professional reputation’ and also caused him ‘significant distress and embarrassment’.
– 18 December: The Washington Post publishes an op-ed by Ms Heard which did not mention Mr Depp by name, but said that the actress ‘became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out’.
2019
– 27 February: Mr Depp fights off a bid to halt his English legal action after The Sun applies for his claim to be ‘stayed unless and until’ the star confirmed in writing that he would not sue Ms Heard if she participated in a forthcoming trial.
– 1 March: Mr Depp files a libel case against Ms Heard in Virginia, blaming the Washington Post piece for Mr Depp being dropped from the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise and claiming that Ms Heard was the one who had been abusive towards him.
2020
– 26 February: Johnny Depp attends the High Court in London for a preliminary hearing ahead of a trial which was due to begin the following month. The star heard NGN’s barrister Adam Wolanski read out texts sent by Mr Depp, including one from November 2013 to actor Paul Bettany, in which Mr Depp wrote: ‘Let’s burn Amber.’
He also wrote: ‘Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will f*** her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead.’
– 20 March: The trial, which was due to begin on 23 March, is postponed due to the global coronavirus crisis. NGN’s lawyers had claimed Mr Depp wanted to delay the trial ‘because he’s a coward and because he knows he’s going to lose’, which was denied by Mr Depp’s legal team.
– 8 April: Mr Justice Nicol rules that parts of Ms Heard’s evidence, relating to allegations of sexual violence, will be heard in private.
– 13 May: The court gives permission for Mr Depp’s former partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder – who both say Mr Depp was ‘never violent’ to them – to give evidence. Ms Heard’s former personal assistant Kate James is also permitted to give evidence.
– 25 June: NGN asks the court to throw out Mr Depp’s claim just two weeks before trial over the star’s failure to disclose text messages of him apparently trying to buy drugs in Australia in 2015. The publisher’s lawyers say Mr Depp deliberately withheld text messages they say show him trying to obtain ‘MDMA and other narcotics’.
– 29 June: Mr Justice Nicol rules that Mr Depp did breach a court order by not disclosing documents from separate libel proceedings against Ms Heard in the US – which include the text messages. But Mr Depp’s lawyers argue that it would be ‘wholly disproportionate’ to strike out the actor’s libel claim.
– 2 July: The High Court rules Mr Depp’s claim can go ahead after granting his application for ‘relief from sanctions’ for the breach of a court order.
– 4 July: The trial judge, Mr Justice Nicol refuses an application by Mr Depp’s lawyers to exclude Ms Heard from court until she gives evidence.
