The lawyer who represented Johnny Depp during his high profile libel case against News UK has split from her own husband amid reports she is now dating the Hollywood actor.
Reports have suggested that a relationship is blossoming between 59-year-old Johnny and married mother-of-two Joelle Rich, 37.
Joelle, who works for the Schillings law firm, represented Johnny during his libel case against The Sun back in 2020 - with the High Court ruling against the actor.
Reports this week have claimed that Johnny and Joelle are now dating - while fresh reports suggest she has now separated from her husband.
The Telegraph reports: “The British lawyer who is dating Johnny Depp after previously representing him during his High Court libel trial is understood to be separated from her university sweetheart husband.”
The report states that Joelle was married to Jonathan Rich, a director for the Bluebox Corporate Finance Group, in 2011 after meeting at the University of Birmingham in 2003.
During Johnny’s case against the Sun, the court heard accusations of 14 alleged assaults against the actor’s former wife, 36-year-old Amber Heard.
Johnny and Amber clashed in court again this year as they sued and countersued each other in an explosive libel case that rocked Hollywood.
Joelle, it has transpired, attended some of those court hearings alongside Johnny - even though she was not part of his legal team during that case.
A source told Us Weekly: “There was no professional obligation for her being there. It was personal.”
The source also told the publication that the relationship between twice-divorced Johnny and young mum Joelle is “the real deal.”
Johnny was first married to make-up artist Lori Allison from 1983 until 1985, while his doomed marriage to Amber lasted from 2015 until 2017.
He was previously in a long term relationship with French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, 49, from 1998 until 2012 and with whom he shares two children - 23-year-old daughter Lily-Rose and 20-year-old son, Jack.
The actor also enjoyed high-profile relatoships with Jennifer Grey, Sherilyn Fenn, Winona Ryder and Kate Moss in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Earlier this year, some fans speculated Johnny had grown close to American lawyer Camille Vasquez who was representing him in his case against Amber.
However, she brushed off the accusations, telling People in June: “I care very deeply about my clients, and we have obviously become close.
“But when I say ‘we,’ I mean the entire team, and of course that includes Johnny.”
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