/ 02 June 2022

A verdict in the Depp-Heard trial

TOPSHOT - US actors Amber Heard (L) and Johnny Depp watch as the jury leaves the courtroom at the end of the day at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, May 16, 2022. - US actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Photo by Steve Helber / POOL / AFP) (Photo by STEVE HELBER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - US actors Amber Heard (L) and Johnny Depp watch as the jury leaves the courtroom at the end of the day at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, May 16, 2022. - US actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Photo by Steve Helber / POOL / AFP) (Photo by STEVE HELBER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The jury found Heard defamed him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed – she didn’t name him but wrote about being “a public figure representing domestic abuse”. That statement was false, malicious, and specifically referenced her relationship with Depp. As for compensation, Depp was looking for $50 million but has been awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The jury also found Depp’s lawyer defamed Heard on one count of 3, and she’s been awarded $2 million in compensatory damages. Heard had countersued Depp for $100 million, and she’s tweeted that she’s “heartbroken” by the decision.

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