Lurid trial comes to an end
After weeks of explosive testimony and three days of deliberations, a civil jury in the US state of Virginia mostly sided with actor Johnny Depp in his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard
“I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough... I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback” — Amber Heard
“The jury gave me my life back. From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome… The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun” — Johnny Depp
WHAT WAS THE TRIAL ABOUT? DEPP’S LAWSUIT $50 mn
Depp filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard, alleging a 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post saying she was “a public figure representing domestic abuse” damaged his reputation and hurt his career, though he was not mentioned by name
HEARD’S COUNTERCLAIM $100 mn
Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp after his former lawyer called her allegations a hoax
Trial captures public imagination: During the six-week televsied trial, the two actors aired their dirty laundry out in the public and gave the people a rarely-glimpsed peek into the lives of Hollywood’s A-listers. The trial was watched by millions, resulting in a parallel social media trial in which Heard was judged guilty long before the jury even started deliberating, with memes projecting her as manipulative
HEARD’S ALLEGATIONS
Several instances of “violent” and “humiliating” physical abuse When looking for cocaine, Depp ripped off her clothes and conducted a “cavity search” of her body Depp held her by the neck and warned he could “kill me” Sexually assaulted her with a glass liquor bottle
THE MARRIAGE
Depp and Heard started dating in early 2012, after meeting on the set of 2011 movie The Rum Diary. They married in 2015, but called it quits just 15 months later, with Heard getting a restraining order against Depp over allegations of domestic violence
DEPP’S ALLEGATIONS
Lost the tip of a finger when Heard “threw a vodka bottle” at him Heard left “human faecal matter” on the bed, which she blamed on their dogs She “roundhouse punched” him, which resulted in a bruise under his eye Heard subjected him to “demeaning name-calling” and acting out of a “for conflict”
WHY THIS IS ROUND 2
In 2018 — before Heard's op-ed was published — Depp had sued British newspaper The Sun for libel over an article that referred to him as a “wife beater” but he lost