For six weeks, all eyes were on Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation trial, which was being heard at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia. Now, after about three days of deliberation, the jury has given its verdict, and it favors the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor. The jury has awarded him $15 million in damages. Heard reacted to the verdict and said she was “heartbroken” and that “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words.”
Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Trial Verdict
The high-profile defamation case’s closing arguments were held on Friday. The 58-year-old Depp had filed a $50 million lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard after the 2018 Washington Post op-ed, in which she claimed to be the “public face of domestic abuse.” Heard then counter-sued Depp by claiming that his referring to her article as “fake” and a “sexual violence hoax” defamed her. Many shocking secrets came to light in the courtroom as the trial went on.
Now, the jury’s verdict has awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. During an initial hearing. Depp told the court that he lost “nothing less than everything,” due to the case. He said, “When the allegations were made [and] rapidly circulating the globe, telling people that I was a drunken, cocaine-fueled menace who beat women suddenly in my 50s… no matter the outcome of this trial, the second the allegations were made against me [and] turned into fodder for the media… I lost then.“
Also Read: Johnny Depp Vs Amber Heard: Most Shocking Moments Of Defamation Trial Till Now
Amber Heard Says She is “Heartbroken”
Amber Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages. The jury rejected all her claims except the one where she said she was defamed by Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman’s comments that Heard and her friends “set” up the actor with “an ambush, a hoax.”
After the jury gave its verdict, Heard shared her sentiments in a statement: “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.”
Depp was not present in court as the verdict was read. He was recently seen touring in the UK with his friend and talented guitarist Jeff Beck. Heard’s team had pointed out Depp’s absence and taken a shot at his sincerity. They stated, “Your presence shows where your priorities are. Johnny Depp plays guitar in the U.K. while Amber Heard waits for a verdict in Virginia. Depp is taking his snickering and lack of seriousness on tour.”
A statement on the verdict is now awaited from Depp, but surely, this is a huge relief to the actor who took a gamble by suing Heard as he wanted to clear his name for his family.
