Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard verdict: Fans want Disney and Warner Bros. to apologize after Johnny Depp wins defamation lawsuit

The trial of the year has finally come to an end, and the verdict is out. After what was a long six-week case, Johnny Depp won his well-documented defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard. After almost three days of deliberation, the seven-person jury ruled that Heard indeed defamed the actor in her 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post.

Titled, "I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change," the article saw Heard describing herself as the "public face of domestic abuse." This was two years after she accused Depp of physical abuse and obtained a restraining order against him.

Though his name was not mentioned in the article, Depp filed a defamation suit and sought $50 million in damages, claiming he lost contracts and income. Heard also counter-sued, claiming Depp's former attorney Adam Waldman had made defamatory statements about her in the Daily Mail, and sought $100 million.

The high-profile lawsuit in Fairfax, Virginia, witnessed a number of accusations, psychological evaluations and leaked text messages.

Now, after both actors took the stand along with numerous witnesses, the jury has spoken, and Depp has won the battle. They found Heard's claims about her marriage to be false and stated that she acted with actual malice.

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

However, Judge Penney Azcarate reduced Depp's punitive damages to just $350,000, which was the maximum allowed in the state. This makes Depp's award amount to a total of $10.4 million.

The jury of five men and two women did favor Heard in one of her claims, where she stated that Depp defamed her through his attorney. They awarded the actress $2 million in compensatory damages.

Johnny Depp was not in court during the verdict because he had gone to the UK to tour with his friend and musician Jeff Beck. After the verdict was out, Depp shared a statement that reads:

"And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled."

In her own statement, Amber Heard shared that she was heartbroken and that the disappointment she felt was beyond words.

After the verdict was announced, Depp's fans, who supported the actor throughout the legal battle, immediately took to social media to celebrate.

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Fans take to Twitter to demand apology from Disney and Warner Bros. as Johnny Depp wins defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard

Taking to Twitter, Johnny Depp's fans claimed that Disney and Warner Bros. owe the actor an apology for their lack of support for him throughout the Amber Heard saga.

Here's what they said:

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Will Amber Heard and her team file for an appeal?

The jury found that both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamed each other.

However, they sided with Depp at large, stating that Heard had defamed the actor with false accusations. The actress counter-sued three claims but won only one of them.

In 2020, Depp's former attorney, Adam Waldman, gave a statement to the Daily Mail claiming Heard's abuse allegations were a hoax. As mentioned earlier, this was the basis of one of Heard's counterclaims, and it was the only one she won.

Heard does have the opportunity to appeal the jury's verdict. However, unless new evidence is brought forth, there's not much that would change the already announced verdict.

It is not yet known if the Aquaman star's legal team will appeal the verdict.