After a six-week heated trial, the United States jury found Amber Heard defamed her former husband Johnny Depp with an op-ed in which she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse.
While both the Hollywood stars were found liable for defamation in their law
suits against each other, significantly more damages were awarded to Depp, making it a legal victory for him.
The case
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor sued Heard for defamation over a 2018 article published in The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure representation domestic abuse”. The piece did not name Depp but he claimed it cost him acting roles.
He sued Heard for implying that he was an abuser and sought $50 million in damages.
The actress countersued her former husband for $100 million over statements made by Depp’s former lawyer Adam Walkman about her abuse claims.
The verdict
The Virginia civil jury found that Heard defamed Depp in three separate statements in The Washington Post article and Depp defamed her with one statement made by his former lawyer.
The jury ruled in favour of Depp on all three of his counts, finding that Heard had not only made false and defamatory statements but that she'd done so with “actual malice”. Jurors concluded Depp should receive $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
The jury awarded the actress $2 million in compensatory damages and no money in punitive damages.
The three counts against Heard
Jurors concluded that the headline of the article “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change” was defamatory.
Heard’s lawyers argued she didn’t write the headline but according to the jurors she “made or published” it.
The article’s third paragraph – “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 – was under scrutiny.
According to Depp’s lawyer, it clearly referenced the actor since Heard had publicly accused him of domestic violence in 2016.
Heard’s lawyers said a mountain of evidence showed that the actress was abused numerous times and that just one instance of proven abuse would make the line not defamatory. They also argued the statement was objectively true because it was focused not on Depp but Heard’s experience speaking out, reports The Associated Press.
However, the jurors disagreed, finding the statement defamatory.
In a second paragraph of The Post article, Heard wrote, “I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real-time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
Again, Deep’s lawyers said that it was a clear reference to the actor.
Like the other two counts, the jurors found Heard had defamed Depp and that there was clear and convincing evidence that she either knew it was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
The counts against Depp
Three counts of defamation were levied against Depp. Heard said she’d been repeatedly defamed by Depp’s former lawyer Adam Waldman, who called her abuse allegations a hoax. Heard said that the remarks impacted her career.
However, the jury ruled in favour of the actress over one statement Waldman made to the tabloid The Daily Mail, in which he accused Heard and her friends of fabricating abuse allegations following a 2016 fight in the couple's Hollywood penthouse that prompted the actress to dial 911.
“Quite simply this was an ambush, a hoax. They set Mr Depp up by calling the cops, but the first attempt didn’t do the trick. The officers came to the penthouses, thoroughly searched and interviewed, and left after seeing no damage to face or property. So Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist, and then placed a second call to 911,” Waldman had said.
Two police officers had testified that they saw no signs of injury, though Heard appeared in public with a mark on her face a few days later seeking a temporary restraining order.
Jurors agreed with Heard’s lawyer that Waldman’s remarks were false and defamatory and that he’d acted with actual malice.
However, the two other statements in the same article were not proven to be defamatory. Waldman had accused Heard and her friends in the media of using “fake sexual-violence allegations as both a sword and shield depending on their needs”.
The final count against the lawyer was for saying, “We have reached the beginning of the end of Ms Heard’s abuse hoax against Johnny Depp.”
What the verdict means for Amber Heard
Heard said she was disappointed “beyond words” by the verdict.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” she said in a statement.
“I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.”
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously,” she added.
Heard had said before the trial that the allegations by Depp had hurt her career and she had to “fight” to retain her role in the Aquaman sequel and that she has been cast in only one other film in two years.
Heard is not a superstar like Deep and her career was propelled because of her association with him. While she refutes claims that she got the Aquaman part because of Deep, with ties severed the offers have reduced.
Heard’s outspoken defence of domestic abuse victims is more likely the key to her future activities, says an article in Guardian.
What the verdict means for Depp
Depp was not in court for the verdict. He has been in England for the past few days.
However, welcoming the verdict he said, “The jury gave me my life back,” he said. “From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun.”
Depp’s career too took a jolt because of the trial. His agent said the actor lost the chance to appear in the sixth instalment of the Pirates series. He also resigned from the third Fantastic Beasts film. The actor’s account Michael Spindler said that Depp had lost about $40m as a result of the allegations.
The win might not necessarily work in favour of Depp’s career. Big Hollywood studios will be reluctant to hire an actor with so many domestic abuse allegations against him. But Depp’s fan following may lead producers, especially those who are independent, to believe that there will be takers for his films.
With inputs from agencies
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