It is a case that has been called the libel trial of the century, but even if Johnny Depp wins his claim on Monday his battle to save his reputation is still not over. Because no matter what decision is made by Mr Justice Nicol in the Hollywood star’s libel action against The Sun for calling him a “wife beater”, he still faces paying more than $3 million (£2.3m) in separate legal costs in the US courts in an attempt to clear his name. It is estimated that Mr Depp is already having to pay upwards of £1.5 million in legal fees in the case he brought against the Sun’s publishers NGN and its associate editor Dan Wootton over an article in April 2018 describing him as a “wife beater”. NGN has also spent an estimated £1.5 million defending their case. It means that whoever Mr Justice Nicol finds against in the Royal Courts of Justice may end up with a £3million bill. But the cost of clearing his name may become steeper yet, as Mr Depp is also suing Ms Heard in the US state of Virginia over an opinion piece she wrote for the Washington Post in 2018, in which she called herself the survivor of domestic abuse. Lawyers have estimated that each side will face legal fees of $3m (£2.3m) or more, but unlike in the UK, those in US courts pay their own legal fees regardless of outcome. The article did not refer to Mr Depp directly, but he claims that the 34-year-old actress “is not a victim of domestic abuse, she is a perpetrator”. Mr Depp, 57, also alleges that her article cost him the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean films.