JUST IN: Johnny Depp wins defamation case against ex-wife, Amber Heard

Actor Johnny Depp has won a defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard with $15 million awarded to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor.

Depp won his defamation lawsuit against Heard as decided by a Virginia jury on Wednesday.

There were cheers outside the courtroom from the crowd of Depp supporters who had gathered there.

- Advertisement -

Inside the courtroom, a black-clad Heard kept her eyes downcast as the jury’s decision that she had lost her countersuit was read.

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The latter was reduced by Judge Penney Azcarate to Virginia’s statutory cap of $350,000. The jury also awarded $2 million in compensatory damages to Heard in her counterclaim and no punitive damages after finding one point of her lawsuit valid.

- Advertisement -

The verdict — from a jury of five men and two women — came after nearly 13 hours of deliberation spanning three days. The turbulent defamation trial, which started April 11 and took place over the past six weeks, saw Depp and Heard trade disturbing allegations of domestic violence and abuse against a background of the social media sources that tilted heavily in the direction of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, Los Angeles Times reports.

A source close to Depp said Wednesday that the actor-musician had “previously scheduled work commitments made before the trial” and would be watching the verdict from the United Kingdom.

READ ALSO Why APC governors are failing to agree consensus candidate for the presidency

“No matter what happens, I did get here and I did tell the truth and I have spoken up for what I’ve been carrying on my back, reluctantly, for six years,” Depp said last week on the witness stand after calling Heard’s allegations “Ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage, unimaginably brutal, cruel, and all false. All false.”

Heard told the jury last week what she has gone through since splitting with Depp and filing her countersuit.

“People want to kill me, and they tell me so every day,” she said. “People want to put my baby in the microwave, and they tell me that. Johnny threatened — promised, promised me — that if I ever left him, he’d make me think of him every day that I lived.”

Depp’s claim required the jury to find that each of three statements by Heard was false, had a defamatory implication, and — because he is a public figure — was made with actual malice.

Heard’s claim required the jury to find that a former Depp lawyer was working as an agent for Depp when he made the statements her case cites, that he knew the statements were false and that someone other than Heard saw the statements.

Depp filed a $50-million defamation lawsuit in 2019 against his ex-wife based on a 2018 op-ed she penned for the Washington Post calling herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”

The op-ed did not mention Depp by name, but was oriented around the time Heard first levelled her allegations of abuse against him.

In 2021, Heard countersued her ex-husband for $100 million, an amount that Heard’s closing arguments revealed to be about sending a message.

Both cases have been unfolding in court simultaneously. Heard’s defamation claim pertains to public statements made by Depp’s former attorney, Adam Waldman, that dismissed her allegations of domestic violence as a “hoax.”

The trial has been broadcast and live-streamed via CourtTV and other outlets, including YouTube accounts.

While waiting for the jury to reach a verdict, Depp joined English guitarist Jeff Beck onstage at back-to-back-to-back concerts Sunday through Tuesday in England.

Model Kate Moss, who testified during rebuttal on Depp’s behalf, reportedly attended a show and spent time backstage afterward.

Both Depp and Heard previously took the witness stand twice each in their defamation trial, which has been watched closely by the masses and heavily discussed on social media. While testifying, Depp detailed his experiences with childhood abuse, drugs and alcohol and claimed that Heard became “this other person” during their marriage.

Early in their relationship, Depp said, Heard was “attentive,” “loving,” “smart,” “kind,” “funny” and “understanding” — until Depp deviated from certain behaviour patterns he said she had established.

At one point, Depp accused Heard of throwing a vodka bottle that shattered on his right hand and severed the tip of his middle finger during a 2015 fight they had in Australia.

In her testimony, Heard alleged that Depp injured his own finger by smashing a telephone against a wall.

The former “Pirates of the Caribbean” star also claimed that Walt Disney Studios cut ties with him after Heard’s Washington Post essay came out.

“It’s very strange when one day you’re Cinderella … and then in 0.6 seconds you’re Quasimodo,” Depp said on the stand, referring to the toll Heard’s public statements allegedly took on his reputation and career. “I didn’t deserve that, nor did my children, nor did the people who have believed in me for all these years.”

During her turn on the witness stand, Heard told her side of the story. She accused Depp of verbally and physically abusing her, as well as sexually assaulting her on the night his finger was severed. Heard also alleged that Depp physically attacked her after the 2014 Met Gala and left her with what she suspected was a broken nose.

In addition to the alleged physical and sexual violence, Heard maintained that Depp micromanaged her career by evaluating scripts she received and prohibiting her from accepting roles that involved romantic scenes or revealing costumes.

As a result of the remarks former Depp attorney Waldman made about her to the press, Heard said she has suffered incessant harassment and been forced to relive the trauma of their toxic relationship under a microscope.