Amber Heard will be able to follow through with her $100-million defamation countersuit filed last year against ex-husband Johnny Depp after his attempt to have it dismissed.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor was banking on a dismissal based on a relatively new anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) law in Virginia, where the case was filed, according to legal documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. Through that legislation, Depp hoped to have statements made both by himself and his lawyers regarding Heard's domestic abuse claims redacted from the case. Those statements included Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman calling Heard's allegations "fake" and a "hoax." However, Fairfax County judge Bruce D. White rejected the request, as "Mr. Depp may have made these statements with actual or constructive knowledge or with reckless disregard for whether they are false.”

But it hasn't been smooth sailing for Heard either. White ruled that, in regards to her claim that her ex created a smear campaign on social media in an effort to damage her career, Heard did not provide sufficient evidence.

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Of these claims, White said, “The pleading fails to demonstrate that the social media accounts communicated obscene language, suggested obscene acts, or threatened illegal or immoral acts. Rather, it appears that Mr. Depp texted those statements, privately, to two of his friends, and Ms. Heard has not alleged that Mr. Depp intended for her to see them.”

For his part, Depp is pursuing a $50-million defamation case against Heard for the op-ed she wrote in December 2018 for The Washington Post on being a domestic abuse survivor. (For the record, Heard never named Depp in the piece.) This is the same case, by the way, that made headlines just months ago when it was reported that Depp would have to submit "communications" with many of his former famous partners, with Angelina Jolie, Keira Knightley and Marion Cotillard all conspicuously named.

Depp filed that suit just months after the publication of Heard's op-ed, but the case has been repeatedly delayed, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now, it's set to go to trial on May 3.

Which means this already lengthy court battle is set to get even longer – and messier. Depp already lost his libel case against The Sun back in November. The actor sued the U.K. tabloid for calling him a "wife-beater" in a 2018 headline. After a highly publicized trial, the judge presiding over that case ruled the label "substantially true." Shortly after, Depp was fired from the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film – with full pay, of course, though that may just be devoured by legal fees. Oops! The actor has requested a second trial, keeping the couple's dirty laundry fresh in the U.S. and the U.K.

While Depp has since been replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in Fantastic Beasts 3, Heard recently wrapped filming Zack Snyder's Justice League, currently stars in The Stand television series, and is set to begin filming Aquaman 2 later this year.

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