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Johnny Depp waves to attend the trial
A US jury has concluded that Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, with an article claiming she was a victim of domestic violence.
The jury decided that Depp, who denied offending Heard, would receive $15 million in punitive and punitive damages.
Heard, 36, won one of three counterclaims once morest Depp, 58, and was awarded $2 million in damages.
The two Hollywood actors, who finalized their divorce in 2017, gave mixed versions of their relationship during the trial.
Over the course of six weeks, the court in Fairfax, Virginia, heard the details of Depp and Heard’s volatile marriage, and its unhappy ending.
Opinion polls indicated that more Americans were interested in courtroom drama than the war in Ukraine or a prospective abortion ruling, perhaps historic, by the US Supreme Court.
Coverage of the trial, which was broadcast live, gained billions of views on social media.
After nearly two days of deliberation, jurors on Wednesday concluded that Heard’s statements regarding her marriage were “false” and that she had acted with “real malice.”
But they also concluded that Depp slandered Heard when his lawyer made a statement to the Daily Mail in 2020 calling her allegations of mistreatment a hoax.
When the seven-member jury delivered its verdict, chants of “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny” resounded out of court.
Deeb did not attend the session due to “pre-established work commitments,” according to the representative’s spokesperson. And Depp was said to have been watching from the UK, where he’s held three surprise concerts alongside his British musician friend Jeff Beck, since the jury began deliberations on Friday.
On the eve of the verdict, Depp received a standing ovation following performing with Beck at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
“The jury gave me my life back,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. “You truly shamed my humility.”
He added in Latin: “The truth never goes away.”
“I hope that my quest for truth has helped others, men and women, who find themselves in my situation, and that those who support them will never give up,” Depp’s statement continued.
picture released, Archyde.com
Heard expressed her disappointment with the ruling
The judge reduced Depp’s punitive damages to $350,000, the legal maximum in Virginia. This brings his total compensation to $10.4 million. Heard was not awarded any punitive damages.
The actress, who did not show any expressions during the verdict, said in a statement that she was “heartbroken”. She said the jury ignored evidence in her favour.
“I’m sad that I lost this case. But I’m even more sad that I lost what I apparently thought was for me as an American – which is to speak freely and openly,” said Heard, who plays in Aquaman II, due out next year.
“I am even more disappointed by what this ruling means to other women. It is a setback. It turns back the clock to a time when women who speak up and speak out can be shamed and humiliated,” she added.
Wednesday’s ruling is a change in Deeb’s fortune. Two years ago, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was on the losing side of a libel ruling in the UK when The Sun newspaper described him as a “wife-beater”.
The second part of the actors’ legal battle centered around a 2018 opinion piece that Heard published in The Washington Post, describing her experience as a “public figure representing domestic violence.”
She did not name her ex-husband or any other alleged perpetrator. But Depp – who was once one of Hollywood’s top curling stars – said the fallout spoiled his career.
Depp claimed $50 million in the lawsuit, while Heard filed counterclaims for $100 million.
The two met in 2011 while filming “The Ram Diary” and married in February 2015. They separated two years later.
