Amber Heard, and her lawyers Elaine Bredehoft, and Ben Rottenborn, react as the verdict is read in the courtroom. Photo / Court TV, via AP
Amber Heard, and her lawyers Elaine Bredehoft, and Ben Rottenborn, react as the verdict is read in the courtroom. Photo / Court TV, via AP
Amber Heard stood solemnly as the jury's verdict was read in court today.
Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife, Heard for US$50m (NZ$78m) after she implied he abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. Although she did not name him, he claims her allegations are false and cost him lucrative movie roles.
And now the jury agrees with him.
Jury members found Depp should be awarded the partial sum of $US15 million ($23.1m) in damages, but also found in favour of Heard, who countersued Depp for $US100 million ($154m).
Heard claimed said she was defamed by Depp's lawyer when he called her abuse allegations a hoax. The jury agreed to a lesser degree, awarding her just US$2 million (NZ$3.08m) of the hefty sum first requested in damages.
As the judge read the verdict live in court, Heard looked despondent, hanging her head and appearing to take a moment to process the verdict.
AP has reported legal experts are expecting the Aquaman actress and her legal team to appeal the findings.
Amber Heard reacts, with her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft at as the verdict is read in the courtroom. Photo / Court TV via AP
But Heard quickly took to her social media accounts where she revealed her "disappointment" and "heartbreak" with the jury's findings in favour of her ex-husband.
"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."
She continued, "I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publically shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously."
"I believe Johnny's attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK."
She concluded her statement by saying, "I'm sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American - to speak freely and openly."
The announcement of the verdicts concludes the televised trial that has captured the public eye for over six weeks as Depp attempted to restore his reputation.
However, the trial quickly turned into a spectacle of a vicious marriage and has seen explosive details of their tumultuous relationship laid bare before the court, with both sides alleging shocking behaviour and exposing at times, disturbing evidence.
Heard and Depp met while filming The Rum Diary in 2011 before tying the knot in 2015.
However, the former couple broke up a year later in May 2016 when Heard took out a temporary restraining order against the actor and claimed the reason was because he allegedly abused her.
Depp has consistently denied the claims, but lost his highly publicised UK libel lawsuit against The Sun, who called him a "wife-beater".
The court ruled the claims were "substantially true" after Heard testified and the Pirates of the Caribbean actor's attempts to overturn the decision were overruled.
Actors Amber Heard and Johnny Depp began dating in early 2012, before tying the knot in a private ceremony in 2015. Photo / Getty Images
Heard said during the recent Virginia-based trial she decided to file for divorce from Depp in May 2016, after his assurances that he was clean and sober. She claimed he said sorry and he "wasn't the monster" but felt she "wouldn't survive" if she didn't leave.
"I had worked so hard to try to make this relationship work … it was falling apart," Heard told jurors. "I knew I had to leave him. I knew I wouldn't survive if I didn't."
"The violence was now normal and not the exception," she testified.
