Johnny Depp's Assault Case Won't Be Dismissed Until 2023 Despite Settlement

Johnny Depp has avoided going through another court battle after settling the assault and battery case he was facing ahead of the planned trial.

Weeks after his defamation trial against Amber Heard concluded, Depp was due to face film crew member Gregg "Rocky" Brooks, who has accused the actor of punching him in the chest during a dispute on the Los Angeles set of the movie City of Lies in April 2017.

However, a notice filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by Deadline now reveals that the case has been settled. As part of the deal, Depp will be required to meet unspecified terms by the end of August.

"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."

"Dismissal After Settlement is scheduled for 02/16/2023," reads a minute order from Judge Holly J. Fujie, which was added on Monday morning, according to Deadline.

While the terms of the settlement have not been revealed, the notification indicates that the case will be reopened should the conditions of the settlement not be met. It also means that the case will not be officially dismissed until February 2023, when a follow-up hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place.

Newsweek reached out to representatives of Depp and Brooks for comment.

According to the lawsuit against Depp, which was filed in July 2018, Brooks alleged that the actor got upset when he was informed that filming would have to stop one night after their city permit was repeatedly extended.

Depp was quoted as responding to Brooks, who worked on the movie as a location manager: "Who the f**k are you? You have no right to tell me what to do!"

The actor then allegedly struck Brooks twice in his ribcage, before shouting: "I will give you $100,000 to punch me in the face right now."

When his purported statement was met with no reaction, Depp allegedly "continued to scream and berate [Brooks] in front of a set full of people until Depp's own bodyguards physically removed Depp from the scene."

Brooks, who said that Depp's breath "reeked of alcohol" at the time, further alleged that when he returned to the film set three days later, producer Miriam Segal asked him to sign a declaration stating that he would not sue the production team. Brooks said that he was fired after declining.

Depp responded to the lawsuit by saying that Brooks' injuries were sustained as a result of "self-defense/defense of others." He also accused Brooks of having "provoked" the behavior that led to his injuries.

The case settlement comes after Depp's most recent court battle when Depp filed a $50 million lawsuit against Heard over a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, in which she said that she was a survivor of domestic abuse.

Following a six-week trial, the jury on June 1 awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The judge adjusted the punitive damages to $350,000, as Virginia law limits punitive damages.

Heard, who had countersued for $100 million, was awarded $2 million by the jury, which found that Depp's former attorney, Adam Waldman, had made defamatory comments about the actress.

Responding to Depp's court victory against Heard at the time, Brooks' lawyer Pat Harris told The Sun: "While we respect the jury's decision, it has no relevance to Mr. Brooks' case in Los Angeles. Brooks' case is not about two Hollywood celebrities involved in a toxic relationship. It is about the assault of a hard-working film crew member by the star of the production. Mr. Brooks looks forward to his day in court."

Brooks had sued Segal, director Brad Furman, Good Film Productions, and the Depp-founded production company Infinitum Nihil for intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery, and negligence, among other damages.

Other crew members insisted in 2018 that the alleged incident between Depp and Brooks did not escalate beyond a verbal confrontation.

"They had a little moment, there weren't punches, there wasn't anything, just were in each others' face for a second," script supervisor Emma Danoff told The Daily Beast. "We shot for maybe another hour-and-a-half after that, we went inside. We finished and the locations guy came up to Johnny and they hugged and it was all cute and that was it."

Filmmaker Furman had previously defended Depp, saying in a statement shared with Us Weekly: "Johnny Depp is a consummate professional, great collaborator and a supporter of other artists. He always treats the crew and people around him with the utmost respect. Movies can be stressful, and nonevents often become exaggerated. We all love stories—there isn't one here."