After a trial that lasted six weeks, Amber Heard has been found liable of defaming her ex-husband Johnny Depp via an op-ed she wrote about surviving domestic abuse.
Heard also filed a counterclaim against Depp, alleging that she was a victim of defamation from statements that Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, made following a 2020 defamation trial in the United Kingdom.
In the counterclaim, Depp was found liable of defamation through one of the three statements Waldman made.
The Fairfax, Virginia, jury needed only three days of deliberation to come to their verdict after being handed the case following closing arguments on Friday.
Sound bite after sound bite has circulated online from the case showing Depp going back and forth with Heard’s lawyers and vice versa.
The trial saw both Heard and Depp take the stand recounting their version of what happened throughout their relationship, including claims of mental and physical abuse, drug use, and jealousy.
Heard alleged that Depp repeatedly abused her both mentally and physically and, at one point, almost attacked her sister. However, Depp claims that he never hit his ex-wife and that she abused him, including a time when she sliced the tip of his finger off in an altercation where she threw a liquor bottle at him.
The trial gained traction online after a recording was released of what appears to be Heard admitting to hitting Depp after the 2020 trial. Because of this, many have come to the side of Depp, claiming that Heard was the actual abuser in the relationship, not Depp.
Depp’s defamation suit against Heard was for $50 million, and Heard’s counterclaim was for $100 million. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages.
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