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Inside the courtroom, a black-clad Heard kept her eyes downcast as the jury’s concurrent decision was read, saying that she had lost the bulk of her countersuit. He had sued her for $50 million, and she’d countersued for $100million.
For the record:
1:41 p.m. June 2, 2022An earlier version of this story stated that videotaped depositions do not allow for cross-examination. Videotaped depositions do include questioning from both sides’ legal teams and are edited for courtroom presentation as agreed to by both sides.
The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in the trial. However, the punitive damages were immediately reduced by Judge Penney Azcarate to Virginia’s statutory cap of $350,000.
In Heard’s countersuit, the jury awarded $2 million in compensatory damages to her after finding one of her points valid: that former Depp attorney Adam Waldman had defamed her when he told a tabloid that she and her friends created a hoax that included roughing up her apartment to look worse for police.
Depp spoke about the verdict in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
“False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career,” he said, in part. “And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”
Depp closed his lengthy statement with “Veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes.”
Heard issued a statement as well, saying in part, “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. 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. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.
“I’m sad I lost this case,” she added. “But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost aright I thought I had as an American — to speak freely and openly.”
The turbulent defamation trial, which started April 11 and took place over the last six weeks, saw Depp and Heard trade disturbing allegations of domestic violence and abuse against a background of social media chatter that tilted heavily in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star’s direction.
A source close to Depp said Wednesday that the actor-musician had “previously scheduled work commitments made before the trial” and would be watching the verdict from the United Kingdom.
“No matter what happens, I did get here and I did tell the truth and I have spoken up for what I’ve been carrying on my back, reluctantly, for six years,” Depp said last week on the witness stand after calling Heard’s allegations “ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage, unimaginably brutal, cruel, and all false. All false.”
Heard told the jury last week what she has gone through since splitting with Depp and filing her countersuit.
“People want to kill me, and they tell me so every day,” she said. “People want to put my baby in the microwave, and they tell me that. Johnny threatened — promised, promised me — that if I ever left him, he’d make me think of him every day that I lived.”
Depp filed a $50-million defamation lawsuit in 2019 against his ex-wife based on a2018 op-ed she penned for the Washington Post calling herself “a public figure presenting domestic abuse.” The op-ed did not mention Depp by name, but was oriented around the time Heard first leveled her allegations of abuse against him. The trial was held in Virginia because that is where the Post’s servers are located.
In 2021, Heard countersued her ex-husband for $100million, an amount that Heard’s closing arguments revealed to be about sending a message. Both cases have been unfolding in court simultaneously. Heard’s defamation claim pertains to public statements made by Depp’s former attorney, Waldman, that dismissed her allegations of domestic violence as a “hoax.” The trial has been broadcast and livestreamed via Court TV and other outlets, including YouTube accounts.
In ascreen grab from video, Amber Heard, center, and her lawyers Elaine Bredehoft,right, and Ben Rottenborn react as the verdict is read Wednesday.
(AssociatedPress)
Depp’sclaim required the jury to find that each of three statements by Heard wasfalse, had a defamatory implication and — because he is a public figure — wasmade with actual malice.
Heard’sclaim required the jury to find that a former Depp lawyer was working as anagent for Depp when he made the statements her case cited, that he knew thestatements were false and that someone other than Heard saw the statements.
While waitingfor the jury to reach a verdict, Depp joined English guitarist Jeff Beckonstage at back-to-back-to-back concerts Sunday through Tuesday in England.Model Kate Moss, who testified during rebuttal on Depp’s behalf, reportedly attended a show and spent timebackstage afterward.
Both Deppand Heard took the witness stand twice each during the trial, which was watchedclosely by the masses and heavily discussed on social media. While testifying,Depp detailed his experiences with childhood abuse, drugs and alcohol andclaimed that Heard became “this other person” during their marriage.
Early intheir relationship, Depp said, Heard was “attentive,” “loving,” “smart,”“kind,” “funny” and “understanding” — until Depp deviated from certain behaviorpatterns he said she had established. At one point, Depp accused Heard ofthrowing a vodka bottle that shattered on his right hand and severed the tip of hismiddle finger during a2015 fight they had in Australia. In her testimony, Heard alleged that Deppinjured his own finger by smashing a telephone against a wall.
Theformer “Pirates of the Caribbean” star also claimed that Walt Disney Studioscut ties with him after Heard’s Washington Post essay came out.
“It’svery strange when one day you’re Cinderella ... and then in 0.6 seconds you’reQuasimodo,” Depp said on the stand, referring to the toll Heard’s publicstatements allegedly took on his reputation and career. “I didn’t deserve that,nor did my children, nor did the people who have believed in me for all theseyears.”
Duringher turn on the witness stand, Heard told her side of the story. She accusedDepp of verbally and physically abusing her, as well as sexually assaulting heron the night his finger was severed. Heard also alleged that Depp physicallyattacked her after the 2014 Met Gala and left her with what she suspected was abroken nose.
Inaddition to the alleged physical and sexual violence, Heard maintained thatDepp micromanaged her career by evaluating scripts she received and prohibitingher from accepting roles that involved romantic scenes or revealing costumes.
As aresult of the remarks former Depp attorney Waldman made about her to the press,Heard said, she has suffered incessantharassment and beenforced to relive the trauma of their toxic relationship under a microscope.
“I amharassed, humiliated, threatened every single day,” she told the jury.
“Peoplewant to kill me, and they tell me so every day. ... People want to put my babyin the microwave, and they tell me that. Johnny threatened — promised, promisedme — that if I ever left him, he’d make me think of him every day that Ilived.”
Witnesseswho appeared either in the courtroom or live via video tended to support Depp’sversion of events, with most of Heard’s witnesses — excluding paid experts —appearing via previously recorded videotaped depositions.
Heard’ssister, Whitney Henriquez, was the sole eyewitness who testified to allegedviolence by Depp, saying on the stand in mid-May that he hit her during a fighton the couple’s staircase and “repeatedly” hit Heard. Henriquez said she wasasked to sign a nondisclosure agreement after witnessing the March 2015 fightbut didn’t sign anything.
On Depp’sside, notoriously private ex-girlfriend Mosstestified via video from London that the actor did not push her down any stairs inJamaica, which Heard had recalled on the witness stand as a rumor she hadheard. Moss said she had slipped on some stairs after a rainstorm and hurt herback.
“Iscreamed, ’cause I didn’t know what happened to me and I was in pain,” shesaid. “He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got memedical attention.”
Otherwitnesses on Depp’s side of the case included a former TMZ employee whostrongly implied that Heard or her team had leaked damaging video to thewebsite and a former owner of the Hicksville Trailer Palace who contradictedHeard’s testimony that a trailer had been “destroyed” by her ex-husband, sayingthat only a light fixture had been broken.
Also, Artof Elysium’s chief executive and -founder, Jennifer Howell, said via recordeddeposition that she’d had an email exchange with former friend Henriquezbecause she had “struggled very much with what to do in a situation that, Iloved someone very much who is doing something wrong, and I know that they’redoing it because they’re trying to protect their sister.” Howell said she wastrying to get Henriquez to tell the truth.
Thisisn’t the first time Depp and Heard have gotten into a legal dispute. The“Fantastic Beasts” actor, 58, and the “Aquaman” star, 36, began dating in 2012after meeting on the Puerto Rico set of 2011’s “The Rum Diary.”
About ayear after their 2015 wedding, Heard filed for divorce. A week later, in May2016, she accused Depp of abuse and was granted atemporary restraining order against her estranged husband while he was heading out on a concerttour in Europe. The two later issued a joint statement saying, “Ourrelationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always boundby love. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There wasnever any intent of physical or emotional harm.”
However, since suing U.K. news outlet the Sun for defamation — a case he lost in 2020 — Depp has painted Heardas the abuser and positioned himself as the victim in theirrelationship.
“There isan abuser in this courtroom, but it is not Mr. Depp,” Depp attorney CamilleVasquez said Friday in her closing argument. “And there is a victim of domesticabuse in this courtroom, but it is not Ms. Heard.”
AccusingTeam Depp of “victim-blaming at its most disgusting,” Heard attorney BenjaminRottenborn argued to the jury that if it found for Depp, it would be sending amessage, “If you didn’t take pictures, it didn’t happen. If you did takepictures, they’re fake. If you didn’t tell your friends, you’re lying. If youdid tell your friends, they’re part of the hoax. If you didn’t seek medicaltreatment, you weren’t injured. If you did seek medical treatment, you’recrazy.
“Imaginewatching your husband, the person you love, behaving violently that way. Like awild animal,” Rottenborn added. “That is abuse. That’s abuse.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Christie D’Zurilla,
Christi Carras
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