Johnny Depp Settles Assault Lawsuit in Wake of Amber Heard Verdict

Johnny Depp has reached a tentative settlement after being sued in 2018 by a City of Lies crew member who claimed the actor assaulted him in a drunken rage on set. Depp settled with location manager Greg “Rocky” Brooks, according to a notice of settlement filed with the court Monday obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. The deal requires Depp to follow through with the unspecified terms of the settlement by the end of August before the suit is dismissed.

“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,” reads the filing. “A request for dismissal will be filed no later than 1/5/2023.” The notice did not include terms of the deal, but the case will reopen if Depp doesn’t fulfill them.

In 2018, Brooks sued Depp, alleging that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor drunkenly punched him twice in the ribs and screamed at him, offering him $100,000 to hit back. He also accused Depp of taking drugs on the set and reeking of alcohol during the confrontation. Brooks claimed he was fired after he refused to promise that he would not sue over the incident.

Following the suit’s initial filing, script supervisor for the movie Emma Danoff defended Depp, submitting a court declaration stating that she witnessed what happened. She claimed that Depp only confronted Brooks after he shouted at a Black homeless woman using racial slurs. “He immediately stood up from our shared seat on the edge of a planter bench and went over to Brooks to stand up for the woman,” Danoff said at the time. “Mr. Depp said to Mr. Brooks, ‘You can’t talk to her like that. You think she is something less than you? Who do you think you are? How dare you?’”

Depp’s settlement comes just over a month after the jury in his defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard found in the Edward Scissorhands actor’s favor. Heard’s legal team filed paperwork earlier this month asking that the verdict be thrown out and a new trial set over what the Aquaman star asserts was an unfair trial. Depp’s legal team has since filed a lengthy response, asking that the Virginia court “reject Ms. Heard’s baseless contention.”