Johnny Deppwon all three defamation claims in his case brought against ex-wifeAmber Heardover her 2018 op-ed about coming forward with domestic abuse allegations.
The jury awarded Depp with $15 million in damages but Heard will only have to pay $10.35 million due to Virginia law cap on punitive damages (the judge reduced the amount).
In regards to Heard’s countersuit brought against Depp, he was found to have defamed her on one of three claims. She was awarded $2 million in damages.
After closing arguments from both sides were made on Friday, the jury entered deliberations and then resumed Tuesday morning after the Memorial Day holiday. Then on Wednesday afternoon, after more than 12 total hours of deliberations behind closed doors, the verdict was unanimously reached and read aloud in the Fairfax County, Virginia, courtroom.
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Depp, 58, was not present for the reveal, instead watching from the U.K., where he’s been performing rock concerts with Jeff Beck since Sunday night. Heard, 36, showed up in person for the verdict.
The seven-person jury — whose names will remain sealed for at least one full year, Judge Penney Azcarate previously ruled — reportedly consisted of five men and two women. The verdict was expected to be read right at 3 p.m., but the judge noticed the jury forgot to fill out on the forms what the damages would be. The members of the jury were sent back to complete that portion, causing a delay in the proceedings.
“I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse,” she wrote in the op-ed, which featured the digital headline: “Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” (She claimed she didn’t write or approve that online headline, but she tweeted a link to the article at the time. It differed from the one used in the print newspaper.)
Johnny Depp; Amber Heard.getty (2)
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Heard publicly announced she’d be donating all of her $7 million divorce settlement to charity, half to the American Civil Liberties Union and half to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. As Depp’s team proved in court, the actress has yet to fulfill those pledges, which were scheduled to be paid in annual increments. On the stand, Heard said she still fully intends on completing the donations.
“I would love him to stop suing me so I can,” the actress said on the stand of making good on the promised charitable payments.
“No human being is perfect, certainly not. None of us. But I have never in my lifecommitted sexual battery, physical abuse, all these outlandish, outrageous stories of me committing these things and living with it for six years and waiting to be able to bring the truth out,” he said, later adding, “This is not easy for any of us; I know that.”
Depp said his “goal” with the trial was “the truth” as he sought to clear his name, mentioning that because of Heard’s allegations he lost “nothing short of everything,” including his reputation and career opportunities.
Meanwhile, Heard has testified about Depp allegedly sexually assaulting her and outlined a cycle of domestic violence during their tumultuous relationship. She said she feared if she didn’t leave the marriage she might not survive, and when she did leave, Depp threatened to “ruin” her.
“Johnny promised me he would ruin me, that he’d ruin my career [and] he’d take my life from me. Death was the only way out. And if I got out, this is what he would do to me. He would make me think of him every single day. He promised me global humiliation,” she said through tears.
Steve Helber/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
On Thursday, Heard testified about the “torture” of reliving her trauma in front of millions of viewers during the live-streamed trial, receiving death threats andhaving her every move ridiculed and scrutinized.
This verdict comes 19 months afterDepp lost his U.K. libel suitback in November 2020. He sued British tabloidThe Sunfor calling him a “wife-beater.” Heard testified to back up the claims, and a London judge upheld the outlet’s claims as being “substantially true.” In March 2021, his attempt tooverturn that decision was overruled.
source: people.com
