Depp-Heard case in jury’s hands
Lawyers for film stars, former spouses make final arguments
A Fairfax County, Va., Circuit Court jury heard closing arguments in the contentious trial between film stars and former spouses Johnny Depp and Amber Heard on Friday, but after a couple hours of deliberation decided to resume their work after the holiday weekend.
Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post, in which she referred to herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse.
Depp, seeking $50 million, claims the article damaged his career and has denied allegations of abuse. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million after Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman gave several statements in the media describing her claims as false. The Post is not a defendant in either suit.
For Depp’s claim, the jury is weighing seven questions, including whether Heard made or published three separate statements in the oped, including the headline; if they imply or insinuate anything about Depp; and if so, whether they were false and/ or made with actual malice.
Under Heard’s counterclaim, the jury has to decide six questions, including whether Waldman, while acting as an agent to Depp, made the statements, and if they were false and/or made with actual malice.
The seven-person jury, which will resume deliberations Tuesday morning, will weigh whether both are entitled to damages, and if so, what amount.
Depp’s team has attempted to paint Heard as vindictive and abusive. The attorneys argued that she purposely destroyed his career by accusing him of abuse.
Depp lawyer Camille Vasquez said the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor sought a divorce in May 2016, after one year of marriage, which enraged Heard.
Defense attorneys maintain that Depp consistently abused Heard but that it doesn’t actually matter in this trial, pointing to free speech protected under the First Amendment and that the op-ed doesn’t actually describe any of the alleged abusive acts to which Heard has testified. Instead, said Heard lawyer Ben Rottenborn, it focused on her “experiences after Johnny Depp.”
Before closing arguments began, Judge Penney Azcarate announced that the names of the jurors will be sealed for a year, given the high-profile nature of the case.
In a courtroom filled to capacity, both sides made emotional pleas to jurors.
“This is MeToo without any MeToo,” Depp attorney Benjamin Chew later said.
Rottenborn, pointing to Depp’s heavy drinking and drug use, questioned how the actor could even fairly account for what happened.
Both sides also addressed Depp’s infamous severed finger, which also occurred during that 2015 fight in Australia. Depp claims Heard injured him by throwing a vodka bottle at him; the defense suggests he injured himself. Rottenborn said it doesn’t matter.
The two actors originally met around 2008 or 2009 when Depp cast Heard in “The Rum Diary,” based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson.
They had a flirtation on set but were both in other relationships at the time. When they reconnected during the film’s press tour more than two years later, they were both single.
The two began a romance as they promoted the film, and Depp said he thought of her as the “perfect partner.” But about a year in, as many people testified, things started to fall apart and the two started fighting all the time. They got married in February 2015, but in May 2016, Heard filed for divorce and a restraining order.
Mitra Ahouraian, a Beverly Hills-based lawyer focused on the entertainment business, said the jurors are “probably sick of this going on for so long.”