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In Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's defamation trial, the jury handed Depp a legal victory as they found the Pirates of the Caribbean actor was defamed by his ex-wife. They concluded that Depp should receive $15 million in damages while his ex-wife should be awarded $2 million for her counterclaim.
The jurors found that Heard's statements regarding marriage were false and that she'd made defamatory statements with ''actual malice.''
Read further ahead for a more detailed look at the jury's verdict.
Jury verdict on Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial explained
According to the Virginia civil jury, Amber Heard defamed Johnny Depp in an article published in The Washington Post. In the op-ed, which did not mention Depp's name, Heard described herself as,
“A public figure representation domestic abuse.”
There were three counts against Heard that the jurors considered. The first count focused on the online headline of the article published by The Washington Post —
“I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
Although Heard's attorneys argued she didn't write the title, the jurors concluded it was defamatory, saying it was ''made or published'' by Heard.
The jurors then considered the controversial third paragraph of the article in question, which reads:
''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.''
Although Depp's name was not mentioned, the actor's lawyer argued that it was a reference to Depp as Heard had accused him of domestic abuse back in 2016.
Despite arguments from Heard's lawyers, who claimed the statement was objectively true as it didn't specifically mention Depp's name, the jurors sided with Depp, concluding that the statement was defamatory.
Finally, the jurors looked at the second paragraph of the contentious article wherein the Aquaman actress said:
''I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real-time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.''
Argued by Depp's lawyers as another reference to the star, the jurors again found the statement defamatory.
Depp won on all three counts, and the jury concluded that Heard not only made fabricated and defamatory statements against her ex-husband but did so with ''actual malice.'' They found that Depp should be awarded $15 million in damages — $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
However, the jury did side with Heard on one of the counts made against Depp in her counterclaim, wherein the actress said one of Depp's lawyers, Adam Waldman, defamed her by calling her allegations ''a hoax.'' She was awarded $2 million.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's response to the verdict
Earlier, Johnny Depp took to social media to express his delight over the jury's verdict. In the post, he said, ''the jury gave me my life back.'' He also said that he feels ''at peace'' after revealing the ''truth.''
Amber Heard also took to Instagram to share her response to the verdict. In the post shared by the actress, she mentioned that she was ''heartbroken'' and said that the verdict ''sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.''
