The John Christopher Depp II v. Amber Laura Heard trial took place in Fairfax County, Virginia, and stirred up lots of attention. The trial spanned from April 11 to June 1, 2022. This legal proceeding addressed accusations of defamation involving the two actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, who were once married. Depp, the plaintiff, lodged a defamation lawsuit against Heard, the defendant, seeking $50 million in reparations. Heard then presented counterclaims against Depp, seeking $100 million in damages.
Depp sued Heard for defamation because, in April 2018, Heard had a UK tabloid called “The Sun” publish an article with an online title that described Depp as a “wife beater.” So, in June 2018, Depp sued News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun, and then executive editor Dan Wootton for libel. In December 2018, The Washington Post published an op-ed written by Heard and titled “Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence—and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” In the article, Heard stated: “Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.” Although she did not name Depp in this op-ed, it was very clear the story was written about him.
After months of testimonies, investigations, and shocking evidence (or no evidence at all), Depp’s legal team believed that Heard had been the aggressor in their relationship, saying that her accusations against Depp were false and had severely impacted his life negatively. The legal team urged the jurors to “restore his life to him.” Lawyer Camille Vasquez, addressing the jury, said, “You have to make a choice – either fully believe the entirety of the claims or dismiss them entirely. It’s either Mr. Depp assaulted Ms. Heard with a bottle in Australia, or Ms. Heard took the witness stand and fabricated that dreadful narrative of abuse,” describing that such fabrication would be a grave injustice to genuine survivors of domestic abuse. Vasquez made it clear to the court that Heard had entered the courtroom intending to deliver an exceptional performance, which she indeed did. Vasquez additionally mentioned that Heard tended to alienate those around her and had limited personal support, pointing out that, aside from her sister, all those who testified in support of Heard were “hired experts.” In contrast, numerous individuals personally testified in favor of Depp during the trial.
Heard’s legal team asserted that Depp had indeed abused her. They further argued that even if Depp’s actions didn’t amount to abuse, the op-ed wasn’t legally at fault for defamation because it didn’t mention Depp by name or directly address her accusations against him. Benjamin Rottenborn, an attorney representing Heard, commented, “The message from Mr. Depp and his legal team is clear: if there’s no photographic evidence, it’s as if it never happened. If you didn’t seek medical attention, your injuries are irrelevant.” Rottenborn contended that Depp consistently avoided responsibility, putting blame on others, and added, “He’s quick to point fingers elsewhere.” He tells the jurors, “even if Amber was victimized by Mr. Depp just once, it validates her claims.” Rottenborn strongly criticized Depp, labeling his behavior as “appalling victim-blaming.”
On June 1, 2022, after nearly two days of deliberations, the jury determined that Depp had successfully proven all aspects of defamation concerning the three statements Heard made in her 2018 op-ed. This confirmed the falsehood of the statements and concluded that Heard’s actions showed deliberate malicious defamation of Depp. The verdict resulted in the jury awarding Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and an additional $5 million in punitive damages to be paid by Heard. However, the punitive damages were then reduced to $350,000 due to restrictions imposed by Virginia State Law.
Regarding Heard’s counterclaim, the jury ruled that the second of the three disputed statements published by Depp’s former attorney, Adam Waldman in the Daily Mail, was both defamatory and false. This determination highlighted that Heard had been subjected to defamatory actions involving explicit malice. For the remaining two contested statements, the jurors concluded that Heard’s legal team had not been able to establish all the necessary elements of defamation. In response to Heard’s counterclaim, she was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages from Depp; however, punitive damages were not granted.