Actress Amber Heard is devastated after the verdict in Johnny Depp’s trial.
The jury in the defamation trial against Johnny Depp (58) also agreed with Amber Heard (36) in part. But your ex-husband always emerges as the winner. In a statement on Instagram, the actress is disappointed after the verdict was announced.
Jury verdict is ‘a setback’
Heard therefore lacked the words to express the disappointment she felt. “I am heartbroken that the mountain of evidence was still insufficient to confront the disproportionate power and influence […] of my ex-husband,” writes the 36-year-old. She was even more disappointed with “what this judgment means for other women. It’s a setback.”
The jury’s verdict “turns back time,” Heard said, “to a point where women who spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.” It is also a setback “for the concept that violence against women must be taken seriously”.
She believes Depp’s lawyers managed to get the jury to overlook the “key issue of free speech” and ignore evidence that led to the actor’s defeat at a trial in the UK.
The Hollywood star’s ex-wife was “sad” that she lost the process. But she is even sadder that she has apparently lost a right that she believed she had as an American – namely to speak freely and openly.
Johnny Depp got his life back
Depp also contacted his followers on Instagram after the verdict was announced. Among other things, he said that his life and that of his children and loved ones “changed forever” about six years ago. Heard’s allegations had a “shattering impact”. But now the jury had “given his life back” to him. No matter how the trial ended, the actor’s goal was “to uncover the truth.” Now he has found his inner peace.
The trial of Johnny Depp against Amber Heard
The jury largely agreed with Johnny Depp in a defamation trial against Heard in the United States on June 1. Since Heard slandered him, she had to pay 15 million US dollars in damages – the equivalent of around 14 million euros. However, the jury found that Depp also defamed his ex-wife to a lesser degree and was ordered to pay $2 million.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million for a post she published in the Washington Post in 2018. In it, she claimed to be a victim of domestic violence. She did not mention her ex-husband by name. Depp explained that the post ruined his career, damaged his reputation and cost him a lot of money. Heard had filed a $100 million counterclaim against her ex-husband.
In 2015, Heard and Depp got married. The separation took place in 2016 and the divorce in 2017. Both parties had repeatedly accused each other of domestic violence. The actor lost a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper “The Sun” in Great Britain in 2020. The newspaper had described Depp in an article as a “wife beater”. However, Depp has denied all allegations.
