Johnny Depp has been awarded $15 million in damages in his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard by a jury on Wednesday, 1st June 2022.
In his defamation claim, Johnny Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. His ex-wife Amber Heard was also given $2 million in compensatory damages by the jury.
A jury in Fairfax, Virginia, began deliberations on Friday. Depp sued Heard for $50 million in 2018 after she wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post, claiming she was a “public figure symbolizing domestic abuse.” Heard filed a countersuit against Depp for $100 million.
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Amber Heard reacts to verdict: ‘I’m heartbroken’
Heard released a statement Wednesday afternoon reacting to the jury siding with her ex-husband Johnny Depp:
“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. 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 publicly 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. 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.”
Jurors award $2 million to Amber Heard
Heard was also given $2 million in compensatory damages by the seven-person jury, but no punitive damages.
Jury awards $15 million to Johnny Depp
In his defamation action against Heard, a jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive penalties.
Depp wins defamation suit against ex-wife Heard
On Wednesday afternoon, a jury in Northern Virginia found in favor of Johnny Depp, ruling that his former wife Amber Heard defamed him by falsely accusing him of domestic abuse.
