Johnny Depp wins defamation case against Amber Heard; Depp awarded $15m in damages
At a glance-
- Johnny Depp wins his libel case over an article in which his ex-wife said she was a victim of abuse
- The jury has awarded Depp $10m (£8m) in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages
- The jury found that Heard's statements about her marriage were "false" and she acted with "actual malice"
- But jurors also found that Depp defamed Heard - through his attorney - and awarded her $2m
- Depp, 58, had sued his ex-wife for $50m for the article
- Heard, 36, counter-sued for $100m, saying he smeared her by calling her a liar
A Virginia jury on Wednesday ruled that actor Amber Heard defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp in a widely watched six-week trial that featured explicit and graphic evidence and testimony detailing the former Hollywood couple's soured relationship.
The jury also ruled in favor of Heard in some aspects of her counter-suit against Depp.
The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages from Heard. The panel awarded Heard $2 million in damages.
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Amber Heard: 'I am heartbroken'
Soon after the verdict, Amber Heard released 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.
I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.
I believe Johnny's attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK.
I'm sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly".
Depp, the 58-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, sued Heard for $50 million and argued that she defamed him when she called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse" in a newspaper opinion piece.
Heard, 36, countersued for $100 million, saying Depp smeared her when his lawyer called her accusations a "hoax."
Depp has denied hitting Heard or any woman and said she was the one who turned violent in their relationship.
Depp and Heard met in 2011 while filming "The Rum Diary" and wed in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized about two years later.
At the center of the legal case is a December 2018 opinion piece by Heard in the Washington Post in which she made the statement about domestic abuse. The article did not mention Depp by name but his lawyer told jurors it was clear that Heard was referring to him.
During six weeks of testimony, Heard's attorneys argued that she had told the truth and that her comments were covered as free speech under the US Constitution's First Amendment.
Throughout the case, jurors listened to recordings of the couple's fights and saw graphic photos of Depp's bloody finger. He said the top of the finger was severed when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him in 2015.
Heard denied injuring Depp's finger and said Depp sexually assaulted her that night with a liquor bottle. She said she struck him only to defend herself or her sister.
Testimony was livestreamed widely on social media, drawing large audiences to hear details about the couple's troubled relationship.
Once among Hollywood's biggest stars, Depp said Heard's allegations cost him "everything." A new "Pirates" movie was put on hold and Depp was replaced in the "Fantastic Beasts" film franchise, a "Harry Potter" spinoff.
Depp lost a libel case less than two years ago against the Sun, a British tabloid that labeled him a "wife beater." A London High Court judge ruled that he had repeatedly assaulted Heard.
Depp's lawyers filed the US case in Fairfax County, Virginia, because the Washington Post is printed there. The newspaper is not a defendant.
