Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Defamation Trial Verdict Explained in 10 Points

Johnny Depp had sued Amber Heard for alleged defamation for $50 m and she had countersued for $100 m.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard sued and countersued each other for defamation.

(Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

A Virginia jury awarded Johnny Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit against Amber Heard. The jury also awarded Heard $2m in compensatory damages. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the punitive damages to $350,000, the maximum allowed in the state.

Depp had alleged that Heard defamed him with her op-ed in Washington Post titled ‘I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.’ They also found that Depp’s former attorney, acting as an agent of Depp, had defamed Heard once in an article in The Daily Mail.

Here’s a basic rundown of the jury’s verdict:

1. Johnny Depp had sued Amber Heard for $50 million and Heard countersued him for $100 million. Over the course of the trial, both Depp and Heard accused the other of physical violence during their relationship and Heard also alleged sexual assault.

2. The allegedly defamatory statements, which made up the basis of Depp’s suit, in the column were: 1. “I spoke up against sexual violence—and faced our culture’s wrath;” 2. “Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out;” 3. “I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”

3. Heard’s lawyers had argued that she didn’t write the headline but the jury found that the statement was “made or published” by her.

4. On the other two counts, too, the jury found that Heard had defamed Depp and had acted with ‘malice’, meaning that she either knew the claims were false or acted with ‘disregard for truth’. Heard’s counsel had urged the jurors to consider that even if there was one instance of proven abuse against Heard, the line wouldn’t be defamatory.

5. Heard countersued for defamation on three counts alleging that Depp’s former lawyer Adam Waldman had hurt her career. Waldman had called Heard’s allegations a ‘hoax’.

6. Heard’s countersuit referred to three statements made by Waldman. First, Waldman told The Daily Mail in 2020 that Heard and her friends in the media “use fake sexual-violence allegations as both a sword and shield depending on their needs. They have selected some of her sexual-violence hoax ‘facts’ as the sword, inflicting them on the public and Mr. Depp.”

7. Second, Waldman told The Daily Mail, “Quite simply this was an ambush, a hoax. They set Mr. Depp up by calling the cops, but the first attempt didn’t do the trick. The officers came to the penthouses, thoroughly searched and interviewed, and left after seeing no damage to face or property.” Third, Waldman claimed, “We have reached the beginning of the end of Ms. Heard’s abuse hoax against Johnny Depp.”

8. On the first and third count, the jury found that Amber Heard’s lawyers hadn’t proved all the elements of defamation.

9. On the second count, Heard’s only victory in the case, the jury found that Waldman, acting as an agent of Depp, had “made or published” the statement about Heard and had acted with ‘actual malice’.

10. Depp, who was suing Heard for $50 million won all three claims and has been awarded $15 million in damages by the jury. After judge Azcarate reduced the punitive damages, Depp’s total comes to approximately $10.4 million. Heard, who countersued for $100 million, won only one claim and will get $2 million.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp both put out statements after the verdict.

"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."

Amber Heard, in a statement

Heard added, "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 am, and have been, overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and colossal support and kindness from around the world. I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up.”

Johnny Depp, in a statement

In his statement, Depp wrote, “From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me, I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that."