Actor Johnny Depp watches as supporters wave as he leaves the Fairfax County Courthouse. (Photo: Getty Images)
Cover Actor Johnny Depp watches as supporters wave as he leaves the Fairfax County Courthouse. (Photo: Getty Images)

Heard will need to pay damages of US$15 million to Depp

The defamation trial that gripped global headlines for six weeks has finally come to an end after a Virginia jury ruled that Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Depp was awarded US$15 million (SG$20 million) in damages from Heard as a result.

The seven-person jury also ruled in favour of Heard in certain aspects of her countersuit against her former husband and she was awarded US$2 million in damages.

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If you haven’t been keeping up with the riveting case, here’s everything you need to know.

Tatler Asia
Actress Amber Heard departs the Fairfax County Courthouse. (Photo: Getty Images)
Above Actress Amber Heard departs the Fairfax County Courthouse. (Photo: Getty Images)

1. What is the relationship between Depp and Heard?

Depp and Heard met in 2011 while they were both filming The Rum Diary. They later got married in February 2015.

While Depp and Heard have said that the beginning of their relationship was wonderful, things quickly took a turn for the worse and the pair finalised their divorce in 2017.

2. Why was Depp suing Heard?

Trouble started brewing between the ex-spouses when Heard referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in a newspaper opinion piece she wrote in 2018. 

Depp has, since the couple’s divorce in 2017, denied hitting Heard or any other woman and has maintained that she was the one who turned violent in their relationship. 

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star sued Heard for US$50 million and argued that she defamed him in this newspaper piece.

3. Why did Heard launch a countersue against Depp?

Heard countersued Depp during the case for US$100 million after one of his lawyers called her accusations a “hoax” in three statements in the press. She claimed that this smeared her name. 

4. Why did Depp take the stand?

During the trial, in April, Depp took the stand for two days, saying that he was there because of Heard’s “heinous” and “disturbing” allegations of abuse and that he wanted everyone to know the claims were “not based in any species of truth.”

He insisted that though the pair argued, he never once struck her in any way. He did say that Heard frequently verbally abused him and that she would “strike out” in a physically violent way sometimes. 

Images of bruises on Depp’s face were shown as well as scratches on his face that happened during a confrontation with Heard. 

5. Why did Heard take the stand?

The direct examination of Heard lasted for about two days and during this time, she described her whirlwind romance with Depp. “When I was around Johnny, I felt like the most beautiful person in the whole world,” Heard testified. “It felt like a dream. It felt like absolute magic.”

She later went on to say that the relationship turned abusive when Depp resumed his life of heavy drinking and drug use. Heard insisted that Depp was physically and sexually abusive and that he was jealous and controlling. She added that he regularly hit her. 

During her testimony, photos showing an allegedly injured Heard and email exchanges were entered into evidence. 

She maintained that the op-ed she wrote was not about Depp, who was not named in the piece, and that it was about what happened after she got a temporary restraining order against her ex-husband.

6. What was at the heart of the case?

At the heart of the case, Depp’s attorneys were fighting to prove that Heard was abusive to him, rather than the other way around. To do this, they brought witnesses who were familiar with the couple and who were able to state that they had never seen injuries on Heard. 

The actor maintained that Heard’s abuse allegations have destroyed his career and caused many in the industry to think of him as a “fraud”.

7. Who were Depp’s lawyers?

Throughout the trial, much of the content surrounding the case has been focused on both of Johnny Depp’s lawyers, Camille Vasquez and Ben Chew, who have firmly and passionately defended their client through the case with rapid-fire questions. These questions highlighted a lack of medical records on Heard’s part and questioned Heard’s use of drugs and alcohol herself. 

So who exactly are they? Vasquez is a 37-year-old Californian native who is an associate at Brown Rudnick and specialises in defamation cases. Chew on the other hand is Vasquez’s boss and a high-profile lawyer who led Depp’s legal team.

Upon hearing the verdict, Vasquez was all smiles in the courtroom as she hugged her legal team. 

“Today’s verdict confirms what we have said from the beginning—that the claims against Johnny Depp are defamatory and unsupported by any evidence,” she said outside the courthouse in Virginia. “We are grateful, so grateful to the jury for their careful deliberation,” she continued.

8. How did Depp react to the verdict?

Depp received the verdict while he was in Britain and issued a statement through a spokesman right after. 

“The jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled,” he said. “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun.”

9. How did Heard react to the verdict?

Heard was in the courtroom when the verdict was read out and looked downcast as it was read out. 

“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” she said in a statement. “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,” she continued. “It is a setback.”

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