Final Verdict: Amber Heard and Johnny Depp Concluded Defamed Each Other
Actress Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband Johnny Depp by presenting herself as a victim of domestic violence, for which she must pay him $15 million in compensation.
This was concluded on Wednesday by the jury of a US court.
The seven-member jury found Heard defamed Depp in an article published by The Washington Post in 2018, in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Amber Heard must pay Johnny Depp USD 15 million in damages.
But, in addition, the jury determined that Depp also defamed Heard and announced that he must pay him $2 million in damages.
The legal battle between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp, 58, filed a lawsuit against Amber Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described her as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
The Texas-born woman, who has a starring role in “Aquaman,” did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for insinuating he is an abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.
Heard, 36, countersued for $100 million, saying she was defamed by statements by Johnny Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, who told the Daily Mail that his claims of abuse were a “hoax.”
The jury agrees in its verdict to Johnny Depp: Amber Heard sentenced to pay him 15 million for defamation
The sentence considers that both were defamed, but concludes that the mistreatment denounced by the actress was false
The seven members of the popular jury have ruled that actress Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband actor Johnny Depp with her article in The Washington Post in which she presented herself as a victim of abuse. Depp also defamed her, but in only one of the three statements being judged, uttered by her lawyer. It’s a big win for the actor. Heard must pay him 15 million dollars (14 million euros, at the current exchange rate) and he, two million to her (about 1.9 million euros), but beyond the difference in amounts, the jury establishes that Depp did not mistreat Heard.
Amber Heard has been present in the courtroom, cabizbaja, while the court declared her responsible for defamation. Johnny Depp has been photographed these days singing on stage at Jeff Beck’s concerts in Sheffield and London, England. The sentence has not waited for him.
Of the 15 million that the actress must pay to the actor, 10 million are for compensatory compensation and 5 for punitive damages. The two million to be paid by Depp are for compensatory damages, nothing for punitive damages. Legal sources, however, point out that the legislation of the State of Virginia, where the case has been tried, limits the compensation for punitive damages to 350,000 dollars, so that Heard would only have to pay 10.35 million dollars.
The reading of the ruling has been delayed because the jury had filled out the form for the sentence incorrectly. Judge Penny Azcarate has told them that if they considered that there had been defamation they had to set the amount of compensation. That gave a clue about the ruling: there was defamation, but it was not known from whom. In the end it was of the two, although to a different degree. Surely that blank hole corresponded to the zero of the punitive damages.
Heard and Depp’s reactions
Heard has clearly assumed that she has been the loser: “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” she said in a statement. “I am heartbroken because the mountain of trials was not enough to cope with the disproportionate power and influence of my ex-husband.” Heard continued, “I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means to other women. It’s a setback. It turns back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It hurts the idea that violence against women should be taken seriously.”
And Depp has sung victory: “Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of my closest ones and also the lives of people who for many, many years have supported me and believed in me, changed forever. All in the blink of an eye. I was charged with false, very serious and criminal allegations through the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already circled the world twice in a nanosecond and had a seismic impact on my life and career. And six years later, the jury brought me back to life. I am truly honored,” he said in a separate statement.
The jury has noted that Amber Heard’s three claims that were on trial were defamation:
“I spoke out against sexual violence and faced the wrath of our culture. That has to change.”
“Then, two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s anger at women who speak out.”
“I had the rare advantage of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
Here’s Depp’s claim — actually his lawyer, Adam Waldman, which Heard believes he made on behalf of the actor — considered defamatory:
“Simply, this was an ambush, a hoax. They set a trap for Mr. Depp by calling the police, but the first attempt did not work. The officers went to the attics, searched and interviewed them thoroughly, and left after seeing no damage to their face or property. So Amber and her friends spilled some wine and messed up the site, clarified their stories under the direction of a lawyer and a publicist, and then made a second 911 call.” (The Daily Mail, April 27, 2020).
However, the claims of Depp’s lawyer in which he spoke of the alleged mistreatment as a hoax or a hoax and referred to Heard’s words as “false accusations” are considered neither false nor defamatory. There is no account of facts, but the jury’s conclusion through those claims is self-evident: there was no mistreatment or rape and Heard made up a hoax.
The jury began its deliberations last Friday. When they left the sessions, especially on weekends, Judge Penney Azcarate warned them that they could not talk about the case with anyone, not family and friends, nor could they follow the news, opinions and comments that have been multiplying in the press, radio, television and social networks.
The trial has been extended over a month and a half of marathon sessions in the courthouse of Fairfax (Virginia), the town where The Washington Post has its newspapers, the newspaper where the article that gave rise to the whole process was published. Depp filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million (about 47 million euros, at the current exchange rate) in compensation. For her part, Amber Heard fought back and filed another lawsuit in which she claimed $100 million from Depp, although her lawyer has admitted that this figure was not realistic and that what they wanted was to send a message.
The trial, broadcast live by numerous media in the United States, has generated great expectation. The public could go to the room where the hearings were held, but there was only capacity for about 100 people. The queues have been increasing and in the last week of the trial many people stayed to sleep at the door of the courthouse to secure their place.
The sessions have exposed to the world the intimacy of the couple of Hollywood stars in a poisoned relationship. The two versions of the same story presented to the jury were completely opposite.
Campaign against Heard on social media
Among the audience outside the courthouse, support for Johnny Depp was predominant. Some of his followers disguised themselves as pirates and cheered him in and out. “I am, and have been, overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and the colossal support and kindness from around the world. I hope that my quest for the truth to be told has helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those who support them will never give up. I also hope that the position will now be innocent again until proven guilty, both within the courts and in the media,” Depp said in his statement.
Amber Heard has had much less support, has been booed at times and has been the victim of harassment on social networks, with humiliating labels and constant negative messages, as evidenced by an expert hired by the defense of the actress herself.
“The most intimate, shameful and deeply humiliating things I have survived are used against me every day, over and over again. It’s torture. I’m suffering a lot emotionally. I have a baby. I want to move on. I want Johnny to move on as well. I want him to leave me alone,” the actress said at a trial session. Moving forward was also what the actor’s defense demanded: “We ask you to give him his life back by telling the world that Mr. Depp was not the abuser, but that Mrs. Heard was and to hold her responsible for her lie,” said his lawyer Camille Vasquez, whose arguments and presentation of the case have convinced the jury.
On the day of conclusions, Johnny Depp’s lawyers asked the jury to decide on the overall credibility of the actor and actress. They demanded an overall analysis, which concluded that Heard was the real abuser who had “played the role of her life” by lying about the abuses. “From the beginning, the goal of presenting this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Telling the truth was something I owed to my children and all those who have stood firm in their support for me. I feel at peace knowing that I have finally made it,” the actor adds in his note.
Heard’s lawyers, for their part, appealed to the free speech enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. His argument was that even if the jury found the account of sexual assault, rape and physical abuse to be untrue, psychological or financial abuse would be enough to find Heard the winner for his right to freedom of expression. They have not succeeded.
The sentence is appealable and there are those who believe that it is even possible that the trial has to be repeated.
The six sentences put on trial
The cross-defamation lawsuit focused on these six claims, on which the jury has ruled, three by Amber Heard that Johnny Depp considered defamatory and three by a former lawyer of Depp, which the actress considered to be speaking on behalf of her client and in a defamatory manner. The jury finds heard’s three claims to be defamatory and that only Depp’s lawyer’s second was.
Afirmaciones de Amber Heard en un artículo publicado por su exmujer en The Washington Post el 18 de diciembre de 2018:
“I spoke out against sexual violence and faced the wrath of our culture. That has to change.”
“Then, two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s anger at women who speak out.”
“I had the rare advantage of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
Statements by Adam Waldman, Johnny Depp’s attorney:
“Amber Heard and her friends in the media use false accusations of sexual violence as a sword and as a shield, depending on their needs. They have selected some of their ‘deeds’ of sexual violence as the sword, throwing it at the public and Mr. Depp.” (The Daily Mail, April 8, 2020).
“Simply, this was an ambush, a hoax. They set a trap for Mr. Depp by calling the police, but the first attempt did not work. The officers went to the attics, searched and interviewed them thoroughly, and left after seeing no damage to their face or property. So Amber and her friends spilled some wine and messed up the site, clarified their stories under the direction of a lawyer and a publicist, and then made a second 911 call.” (The Daily Mail, April 27, 2020).
“We have reached the beginning of the end of the hoax launched by Mrs. Heard against Johnny Depp.” (The Daily Mail, April 27, 2020).