Jury rules Amber Heard defamed Johnny Depp, awards him US$15 million in damages
- The panel also ruled in favour of Heard in some aspects of her countersuit against Depp, awarding her US$2 million in damages
- The widely watched trial featured explicit and graphic evidence and testimony detailing the former Hollywood couple’s soured relationship
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Finding both were defamed, jury awards Johnny Depp US$15m and Amber Heard US$2m
A Virginia jury on Wednesday ruled that actor Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband Johnny Depp in a widely watched six-week trial that featured explicit and graphic evidence and testimony detailing the former Hollywood couple’s soured relationship.
The jury also ruled in favour of Heard in some aspects of her countersuit against Depp. The jury awarded Depp US$15 million in damages from Heard. The panel awarded Heard US$2 million in damages.
Depp, the 58-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star, sued Heard for US$50 million and argued that she defamed him when she called herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in a newspaper opinion piece.
Heard, a 36-year-old actress, countersued for US$100 million, saying Depp smeared her when his lawyer called her accusations a “hoax”.
Depp has denied hitting Heard or any woman and said she was the one who turned violent in their relationship.
“The jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled,” Depp, who watched the verdict from Britain, said in a statement issued by a spokesperson. “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun,” he added, ending with Latin phrase “Veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes.”