For six weeks, ex-husbands Johnny Depp and Amber Heard had a mud fight in a US court. There were serious allegations in the defamation process. Now the jury has reached a verdict.
In the defamation trial between US actors Johnny Depp (58) and Amber Heard (36), the seven-member jury came to a verdict: they think Amber Heard is guilty. The Hollywood star sued her for $50 million in damages after the actress accused him of domestic violence in a newspaper article. Heard filed a countersuit, demanding twice as much in damages. The court now awarded Depp a sum of ten plus five million dollars, the latter sum the judge reduced to $350,000 due to corresponding regulations in the state of Virginia.
However, Johnny Depp is also asked to pay. The jury also agreed with Heard on a number of points. After all, the 58-year-old has to pay her two million dollars. The reason: His lawyers had described Heard’s allegations of domestic violence as a hoax. The jury found him guilty of defamation.
The decision of the seven-member jury in Fairfax, Virginia, came after a total of 13 hours of deliberations over three days.
For six weeks, the ex-husbands publicly held their bitter dispute over allegations of violence and abuse. After Friday’s closing arguments, the seven jurors had the final say.
Depp and Heard met while filming The Rum Diary in 2009. Their romance began in 2011 while on a promotional tour for the film, following Depp’s split from his longtime partner, French actress Vanessa Paradis, with whom he has two children. Depp and Heard married in 2015, but after just 15 months of marriage, the actress filed for divorce following allegations of domestic violence.
In his civil lawsuit, Depp alleges that the actress made false statements in a 2018 op-ed by the Washington Post about domestic violence. This damaged his reputation and his career. He is suing for around 50 million dollars (a good 46 million euros) in damages for defamation. Heard counterclaims $100 million. She claims that Depp’s ex-lawyer Adam Waldman damaged her reputation with a smear campaign.
Two years ago, Depp suffered a defeat in London with a lawsuit against the tabloid “Sun”. It was about an article alleging that Depp physically abused Heard as a wife beater. After a trial with fierce allegations, the High Court ultimately dismissed the lawsuit. The majority of the allegations mentioned in the newspaper turned out to be true, the judges stated in their verdict.
He was “obsessed” with uncovering the truth and clearing his name, Depp said at the start of the ongoing US trial. This process was not easy for anyone, the actor reflected on the witness stand on Wednesday. “But no matter what happens, I came here and I told the truth.”
Amber Heard took the stand again in the showdown of the process – and reported in tears about numerous death threats.
Depp has finally settled with his ex-wife: Heard’s allegations against him are “terrible, ridiculous, humiliating, grotesque, painful, cruel, unimaginably brutal, mean – and wrong. All are false,” he said on the witness stand.
The original of this article “Amber Heard loses defamation lawsuit against Johnny Depp – but he also has to pay” comes from Bunte.de.