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After six weeks of never-ending questioning and testimonies, the Fairfax County judges have released their ruling in Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard’s defamation trial.
The court had ruled in favor of Depp, finding that Heard willingly and maliciously lied when she published her op-ed about being a survivor of domestic violence in a 2018 issue of Washington Post.
Johnny Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and another $5 million in punitive damages. Judge Penney Azcarate decreased the punitive damages to the statutory cap of Virginia of $350,000.
The jury found that Heard had been defamed, so she was awarded $2 million for compensatory damages.
Heard was in court when the verdict was announced, and her face showed that she was shaken by the court decision.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” she stated afterward. “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.”
Meanwhile, Depp was not in court during the announcement. However, he stated that he was “truly humbled” by the ruling in a statement given to EW.
“From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that,” he said.
The previous couple bumped into each other at a 2011 film, The Rum Diary and tied the knot in 2015. And in 2016, Heard filed a divorce from Depp, acquiring a domestic violence restraining order against him and alleging him of physically and verbally hurting her during “violent and volatile” moments.
Depp has repeatedly repulsed the accusations, saying that Heard was, in fact, the abuser in the relationship.
“Truth is the only thing I’m interested in,” said the Pirates of the Caribbean star on the stand. “Lies will get you nowhere, but lies build upon lies and build upon lies.”
Depp alleged Heard of attacking him, severing the tip of his finger, putting human feces on his side of the bed, and countless more.
He stated that he “never struck” Heard, “nor have I struck any woman in my life.”
Depp said before the court that he had lost “nothing less than everything” and that whatever the outcome, he had already “lost.”
“When the allegations were made [and] rapidly circulating the globe, telling people that I was drunken, cocaine-fueled menace who beat women suddenly in my 50s… No matter the outcome of this trial, the second the allegations were made against me [and] turned into fodder for the media… I lost then,” Depp told the court last month.
