Jury sides with Johnny Depp on lawsuit, Amber Heard on counterclaim

A jury on Wednesday ruled in favour of Johnny Depp in his libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, vindicating his stance that Heard fabricated claims that Depp abused her before and during their brief marriage.

The jury also ruled in favour of Heard, who said she was defamed by Depp’s lawyer when he called her abuse allegations a hoax.

Jury members found Depp should be awarded $15 million in damages, while Heard should receive $2 million.

The verdict could help Depp rehabilitate his image — at least that’s his hope — after a televised trial that turned into a spectacle of an abusive marriage.

Throughout the trial, fans — overwhelmingly on Johnny Depp’s side — would line up overnight for coveted courtroom seats. And spectators who couldn’t get in would gather on the street to cheer Depp and jeer Heard whenever either appeared outside.

The seven-person civil jury had to come to a unanimous decision to reach each verdict. The panel deliberated for about 12 hours over three days.

Testimony during the six-week trial has included lurid details of their short and volatile marriage. Depp sued his ex-wife for $50 million, accusing her of libelling him with a 2018 op-ed she wrote describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”

WATCH: 

Heard, who was stoic in the courtroom as the verdict was read, said was heartbroken.

“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It’s a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously,” she said in a statement posted on her Twitter account.

Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against the Pirates of the Caribbean star after his lawyer called her allegations a hoax. Each accused the other of destroying their career.

Heard testified that Depp physically or sexually assaulted her more than a dozen times. Depp said he never struck Heard, that she concocted the abuse allegations and that she was the one who physically attacked him multiple times.

Depp said he never hit Heard and that she was the abuser. However, Heard’s attorneys highlighted years-old text messages he sent apologizing to Heard for his behaviour, as well as profane texts he sent to a friend in which Depp said he wanted to kill Heard and defile her dead body.

“No matter what happens, I did get here, and I did tell the truth”

In the Virginia case, Depp had to prove not only that he never assaulted Heard but that Heard’s article — which focused primarily on public policy related to domestic violence — defamed him.

He also had to prove that Heard wrote the article with actual malice. And to claim damages, he had to prove that her article caused the damage to his reputation as opposed to any number of articles before and after Heard’s piece that detailed the allegations against him.

Actor Johnny Depp waits for the jury to come into the courtroom after a break, at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, Pool)

In his final testimony to the jury, Depp said the trial gave him a chance to clear his name in a way that the U.K trial never allowed.

“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.

On the other hand, Heard said the trial had been an ordeal inflicted by an orchestrated smear campaign led by Depp.

“Johnny promised me — promised me — that he’d ruin my life, that he’d ruin my career. He’d take my life from me,” Heard said in her final testimony.

Trial referred to as “classic murder-suicide”

The case captivated millions through its gavel-to-gavel television coverage and passionate followers on social media who dissected everything from the actors’ mannerisms to the possible symbolism of what they were wearing.

Both performers emerge from the trial with reputations in tatters with unclear prospects for their careers.

Eric Rose, a crisis management and communications expert in Los Angeles, called the trial a “classic murder-suicide.”

“From a reputation management perspective, there can be no winners,” he said.

“They’ve bloodied each other up. It becomes more difficult now for studios to hire either actor because you’re potentially alienating a large segment of your audience who may not like the fact that you have retained either Johnny or Amber for a specific project because feelings are so strong now.”

Depp, a three-time best actor Oscar nominee, was a bankable star until recent years. His turn as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film helped turn it into a global franchise, but he’s lost that role. (Heard and Depp’s teams each blame the other.)

He was also replaced as the title character in the third Fantastic Beasts spin-off film, The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Despite testimony at the trial that he could be violent, abusive and out of control, Depp received a standing ovation Tuesday night in London after performing for about 40 minutes with Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall.

He has previously toured with Joe Perry and Alice Cooper as the group Hollywood Vampires.

Heard’s acting career has been more modest, and her only two upcoming roles are in a small film and the forthcoming Aquaman sequel due out next year.