Johnny Depp Vs. Amber Heard Verdict is In, Jury Sides with Depp on His Three Claims and with Heard on One Claim

UPDATED 4 PM EST

On the first statement in question from the article written by Heard, the jury found in favor of Depp’s claim and that Heard acted in malice as well as the statement being false.

On the second statement in question from the article written by Heard, the jury found in favor of Depp’s claim and that Heard acted in malice as well as the statement being false.

On the third statement in question from the article written by Heard, the jury found in favor of Depp’s claim and that Heard acted in malice as well as the statement being false.

Damages awarded by the jury to Depp total $15 million.

On the countersuit, the jury found that one of the statements in question was made in malice as well as false. Heard was awarded $2 million in damages by the Jury.

Today the judge was to read the verdict to the court, Amber Heard was present, however Johnny Depp was not.

The seven-person civil jury reached their verdict today. The jury was made up of five men and two women. The judge had to send the jury back to deliberations to have them finish filling out the damages paperwork, which had apparently been missed initially. This error delayed the announcement of the verdict.

The high-profile trial has taken place over the past six weeks in Fairfax County, Virginia. Depp was allowed to sue in Virginia because The Washington Post houses its printing press and online servers in Fairfax County.

Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber heard for defamation. He filed for $50 million in damages over a 2018 opinion editorial that was published in The Washington Post.

Heard claimed she had become a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” While Depp was not mentioned by name in the editorial, Depp’s attorney argued it indirectly referred to allegations she made against him in their 2016 divorce.

Heard had countersued for $100 million, and she claimed she was only ever violent with Depp in self-defense of her younger sister.

A 1964 Supreme Court ruling made it so defamation suits brought by notable figures must not only prove the claims were false and caused damage, but also that the person who made the defamatory claim did it with “malice”.

UPDATE:

Johnny Depp’s statement released via his spokesperson:

JUST IN: STATEMENT FROM #JohnnyDepp #DeppHeardTrial @ABC@GMA pic.twitter.com/uScwrSAIkS

— Matt Stone (@MattStoneABC) June 1, 2022