Johnny Depp’s request to appeal a High Court judgment that he assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard was denied.

Judge Andrew Niccol found that The SUN was correct in labelling Depp a “wife beater,” and that the charge was “substantially true” in reference to his relationship with ex-wife Amber Heard. The UK Court of Appeal has now affirmed that decision.

Depp had attacked Heard on a dozen occasions and placed her in dread of her life three times, according to the judge.

“As we have said, it is not easy to persuade this court to overturn the findings of a trial judge on purely factual questions,” the two Court of Appeal justices said in their decision.

“We do not believe that there is a real prospect of it being prepared to do so in this case.”

Part of Depp’s case for the appeal hinged on new evidence that Heard had not truly handed away the $7 million she said she had received in her divorce settlement to charity.

Following Thursday’s decision to deny the permission to appeal, Joelle Rich of Schillings Partners said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “The evidence presented at last week’s hearing (the appeal of Mr. Depp vs. News Group Newspapers LTD) further demonstrates that there are clear and objective reasons to seriously question the decision reached in the U.K. court. Mr. Depp looks forward to presenting the complete, irrefutable evidence of the truth in the U.S. libel case against Ms. Heard where she will have to provide full disclosure.”

This is a major setback for Depp. He was replaced in Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts franchise by Mads Mikkelsen after the original trial, and he is now being branded a “wife beater” ahead of his blockbuster defamation trial against Heard in the United States next year.

According to The Guardian, Depp’s counsel Andrew Caldecott QC claimed at last week’s court that Heard’s assertion that she was donating the money to charity was a “calculated and manipulative lie” that “tipped the scales against Mr. Depp from the very beginning,”

Heard said Depp would become a jealous alter ego, “the monster,” after bingeing on drugs and alcohol, and had threatened to murder Amber in her defence at the London High Court.

However, Lord Justice Nicholas Underhill refused the request for more evidence and disregarded the notion that the trial judge was swayed by these “general perceptions.”

“In the first place, he does not refer to her charitable donation at all in the context of his central findings,” Underhill said, as reported by The Guardian. “On the contrary, he only mentions it in a very particular context … and after he had already reached his conclusions in relation to the 14 incidents.”

“We conclude that the appeal has no real prospect of success and that there is no other compelling reason for it to be heard. We accordingly refuse permission to appeal.”

Ms. Heard stated she would share the $7 million between the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union after the couple separated in 2016.

The same judge denied the star’s request to appeal the judgment in November, stating, “I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success.” He did, however, give Depp until December 7 to file a direct appeal with the court of appeals.

The Court of Appeal, though, found that the proceedings before him last summer were fair, that his explanations were detailed, and that there had been no legal mistake. Depp’s lawyer said he will now concentrate on a case he has filed against Heard in the United States.

Depp’s lawyer, Joelle Rich of Schillings Partners, issued a statement to Deadline in response to the verdict, saying she “seriously questioned” the UK court’s decision and that the actor was looking forward to ““presenting the complete, irrefutable evidence of the truth in the U.S. libel case against Ms. Heard where she will have to provide full disclosure”.

Depp in a statement after the ruling said: “The surreal judgment of the court in the U.K. will not change my fight to tell the truth, and I confirm that I plan to appeal.”

Heard’s representative said the decision was “not surprising,” and that Depp’s team’s assertion of “new and important evidence” was “no more than a press strategy.”

“The evidence presented in the UK case was overwhelming and undeniable. To reiterate, the original verdict was that Mr. Depp committed domestic violence against Amber on no fewer than 12 occasions and she was left in fear of her life,” they added.

At a court hearing last week, Depp’s attorneys claimed that the actor had not been given a fair hearing, accusing Heard of being an untrustworthy witness. They alleged that Heard had broken her pledge to contribute her $7 million divorce settlement to charity as part of their proof.