Biggest celebrity lawsuits that shocked the world in 2022

The year 2022 had been a rollercoaster ride for many A-list celebrities as they made headlines after landing in legal trouble.

While some celebrities await trial, others remained in news throughout the year with their legal thrillers in courtrooms that hooked the audience worldwide.

From Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's explosive libel case to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's legal fight over Chateau Miraval, the drama was aplenty.

Take a look at some of the biggest celebrity lawsuits of the year 2022:

Johnny Depp, Amber Heard Defamation Trial

The Hollywood exes faced each other again at the trial held in Fairfax County, Virginia, from April to June after Depp sued Heard for $50 million over her 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post.

Depp alleged that the Aquaman actor defamed him when she referred to herself as a domestic abuse victim without mentioning the name of the Pirates of the Caribbean star in her article.

Heard countersued Depp for $100 million after Depp’s former attorney Adam Waldman called her allegations a “hoax” in 2020 to the Daily Mail.

After a six-week-long bombshell trial, the jury ruled the verdict in Depp’s favour as he won all three defamation claims in his case brought against his ex-wife.

Depp was awarded $10.35 million in damages while Heard won only one of her three claims that her ex-husband defamed her and was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.

However, the legal thrill did not end there as Depp and Heard both filed an appeal against each other’s win.

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt Chateau Miraval Lawsuit

Brad Pitt filed a lawsuit earlier this year against ex-wife Angelina Jolie over their once jointly owned vineyard in the south of France, Chateau Miraval.

The former flames had bought a controlling stake in the said vineyard in 2008 and decided that they would not sell their stakes without consulting each other.

However, the Maleficent star sold her interests in the Château Miraval, following her messy divorce from Pitt in 2016, to Russian liquor giant Stoli enraging the Bullet Train actor.

In his suit, Pitt claimed that Jolie did not ask him before selling her shares to Tenute del Mondo, owned by businessman Yuri Shefler referred to in court documents as “an aggressive third-party competitor."

Jolie filed a $250 million cross-complaint via her former company, alleging that Pitt wanted to take over the company as payback for their divorce and their child-custody battle.

The legal drama between the exes went from nasty to nuclear after Jolie herself filed a cross-complaint against Pitt claiming that the actor physically abused her and her kids during their 2016 plane fight.

Alec Baldwin 'Rust' Wrongful Death Suit

After the horrific shooting incident on the sets of Rust in 2021 that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, her family filed a wrongful death suit against Alec Baldwin earlier this year.

In October 2022, CNN reported that the It's Complicated actor has reached an undisclosed settlement, according to which, the husband of Hutchins will be an executive producer on the film.

In the latest development, Baldwin sued the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and three other crew members who worked on the set of the unfortunate movie citing their negligence in providing him with a gun that discharged.

Shakira 14.5-million-euro Spanish tax fraud case

Shakira landed in trouble after her split from Gerard Pique when she was called out by Spanish state prosecutors to serve eight years in prison over alleged £12 million tax fraud.

The Waka Waka singer is accused of not paying 14.5 million euros ($14.7 million) in tax income between 2012 and 2014, a period in which Shakira's representatives say she did not live in Spain.

Shakira even rejected a settlement offered by the prosecutor as she claims that she moved to Barcelona in 2015. The Columbian singer is now awaiting her trial.

Ed Sheeran ‘Shape of You’ Copyright Case

Famed singer Ed Sheeran secured victory in his copyright case over his 2017 hit track Shape of You after grime artiste Sam Chokri and producer Ross O’Donoghue accused him of plagiarism.

Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch, claimed the Oh I hook in Sheeran's track was "strikingly similar" to an Oh why refrain in his own track.

After an eleven-day trial, Judge ruled that Sheeran had "neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied" Chokri's song.

Travis Scott's Astroworld tragedy

The Astroworld tragedy continues to haunt Travis Scott after another victim Shanazia Williamson filed a lawsuit against the rapper in May 2022.

The Ohio native alleged that her “unborn child” died after she was “crushed” during the infamous crowd surge at Scott’s concert when at least nine people died along with 300 injured.

The Kardashians vs Blac Chyna

The Kardashian/Jenner family held their heads high as they exited the court as winners in the bombshell lawsuit Rob Kardashian's ex-girlfriend Blac Chyna filed against them.

In her $100 million lawsuit, the model claimed that Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner meddled to end her reality show, Rob & Chyna.

Five years after suing the family, Chyna was not awarded any damages as the judge ruled that the Kardashian/Jenner clan was accountable for any monetary damages to the model.