How Johnny Depp Won The Defamation Lawsuit Against Amber Heard

For the past seven weeks, social media had been buzzing about the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation lawsuit. The lawsuit began trial in March 2022 in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court, his reason was that Ms Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed had defamed and smeared his name when she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in the article. Although she did not name Mr Depp specifically in that article, many other news outlets and media (both online and offline) picked it up and the name “wife beater” was dubbed on Mr Depp. This was one of the reasons he gave when he was on the stand in court, further claiming that his children (he cited his son’s name, Jack) were also verbally bullied because of it.

We have seen more and more people (celebrities and fans) siding Mr Depp as the weeks passed by, probably due to the mountains of evidence – photos, videos and witnesses – that was shared and televised during the period of the trial. This was probably one of the main reasons Mr Depp’s team decided to file the lawsuit against Ms Heard in Virginia because it is the only state that would televise its trials and allow evidence submitted to be open to the public.

Although the jurors are ignorant of the public opinion outside of court, the way the lawyers had represented both sides in this lawsuit and the evidence laid out in this long trial was definitely the reason Mr Depp won his case. In addition to that, he was also able to put his story out there for the public to know and judge – especially after his 30+ years of career and reputation was damaged immediately after the op-ed was released.

But why did it take the jurors more than a day to decide over a defamation suit like this?

There are 9 jurors in total (2 of them are alternates) so only 7 fixed jurors made up of 5 men and 2 women were there to deliberate the case in hand. It took them more than one day to come up with their unanimous decision. By the end of it, the jurors have decided that all 7 claims made by Mr Depp are true and only 1 claim by Ms Heard is true. It was not an easy feat for Mr Depp to win because if he failed to prove that any one or more of the 7 elements he claimed below are true, or if Ms Heard managed to prove that any one or more of them are false, he could not have won the suit.

From winning this suit, the jury awarded Mr Depp US$10 million in compensatory damages and US$5 million in punitive damages. However, the jury did not know that the maximum amount allowed for punitive damages in Virginia is only US$350,000. Hence, after the jury left, Judge Penney Azcarate, who had been overseeing this trial from the beginning, corrected the amount.

Mr Depp was not in court to listen to the verdict today. He was, right at this moment in England, having only performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London alongside Jeff Beck the night before – the same show attended by his former flame, Ms Kate Moss, who was one of the witnesses called by Mr Depp’s lawyers last week. Mr Depp did, however, shared his heartfelt gratitude on his social media for the support and the truth that prevailed.

All is not lost for Ms Heard, however. On one defamation counter-suit that she made against Mr Depp, the jury found it to be true and has also awarded Ms Heard US$2 million in compensatory damages. No punitive damages were awarded. The statement was made by Mr Depp’s then-lawyer in an online edition of The Daily Mail in April 2020.

Although many have shared that the amount awarded to Mr Depp or Ms Heard is only a fraction of what they sued each other for, it seemed that many agreed this trial was not solely about the money. In Mr Depp’s case, all he wanted from the beginning was to let people know the truth about what truly happened between him and his ex-wife. As for Ms Heard, she tweeted that she was disappointed with the results today and that Mr Depp’s disproportionate power, influence and sway was what allowed him to win. Do you agree with her?

In the end, I summarize that this was not really a win-win situation for both of them. They had to share their personal lives and expose themselves in order to win in court. Both of them will always have this part of their lives to regret. On the other hand, I do not agree with Ms Heard when she said the results today are a setback for women that are victims of Domestic Violence (DV). DV is proven to be a topic that needs to be studied more carefully and meticulously, taking into consideration various elements involved between victim and perpetrator.

Should the saying “everyone is innocent until proven guilty” still be applicable or is “everyone is guilty until proven innocent” the new saying now?

Whatever the outcome of the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation suit, victims of DV and/or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) should not be taken lightly and harsher punishment should be introduced to perpetrators that caused such trauma.

What I learned from this suit is that not every man is bad and not every woman tells truth. There are always two sides to the coin and both sides should be allowed to tell their stories. Also, beware of toxic people.

Aliza M. is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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