“Johnny Depp Won”: Jury Reaches Verdict In Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Defamation Trial

In a decision that was handed out on Wednesday, the jury ruled that both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were responsible for defamation against each other, Insider reported.

They found that Heard had defamed Depp and awarded him damages in the amount of $15 million, coming to the conclusion that she had done so when she represented herself in an opinion piece for the Washington Post in 2018 as a victim of domestic abuse.

The jury came to the conclusion that Heard’s assertions were untrue and that she had “actual malice” against her ex-husband when she uttered them. They came to the conclusion that the compensatory damages should be $10 million, and the punitive damages should be an additional $5 million.

A member of Depp’s legal team made the accusation that Heard’s claims of sexual assault were a “hoax,” which led to the jury finding that Depp was responsible for Heard’s defamation in that regard. They decided to award compensatory damages in the amount of $2 million while there would be no punitive damages given.

In 2019, Depp filed the lawsuit against Heard, saying that she defamed him by misrepresenting herself in an opinion piece for the Washington Post published in December 2018 as a victim of domestic violence. According to Depp’s statements, Heard was the one who was the really abusive partner in their relationship.

At the time, he demanded damages in the amount of $50 million. Heard filed a countersuit, in which she alleged roughly a dozen specific incidents in which she claimed Depp hit her, often while he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and she demanded for a total of one hundred million dollars in damages.

After hearing evidence for a total of six weeks throughout the trial and deliberating for a little over three days, the jury came to a decision on Wednesday afternoon.

They did not originally fill out the portions on the verdict form that specified damages, which caused Judge Penney Azcarate, who is presiding over the case, to send them back into the room where they deliberated so that they could correctly fill out the jury form.

After what seemed like just a few minutes, the jurors came back into the room with their decision.

Due to the fact that he is now touring Europe with Jeff Beck, Johnny Depp is unable to appear in court. “Due to previously scheduled work commitments made before the trial, Mr. Depp will not be physically present for today’s 3pm verdict and will be watching from the United Kingdom,” a spokesperson for Depp said Wednesday.

A representative for Heard’s legal team said that the actress will be present in the courts and slammed Depp for not being there. “Your presence shows where your priorities are,” Heard’s spokesperson said. “Johnny Depp plays guitar in the UK while Amber Heard waits for a verdict in Virginia. Depp is taking his snickering and lack of seriousness on tour.”