Johnny Depp wins $15m in defamation case against Amber Heard

Johnny Depp  (58) wins  $15m, in his libel case over an article in which his ex-wife said she was a victim of abuse, and Heard wins $2m after jurors find Deep defamed her via his lawyer. The Jury awarded Depp $10m ( £8m) in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages.

The jury found that Heard’s statements about her marriage were “false” and she acted with “actual malice”. But Jurors also found that  Depp defamed Heard – through his lawyers – and awarded her $2m over articles in the Daily Mail, in which Johnny Depp’s former lawyer described her claims of domestic abuse as a hoax. The seven-person jury deliberated for 12 hours after being sent out to consider their verdicts on Friday. The verdict was met with screams outside the court and chants of “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny”.

Heard said in a statement she is “ heartbroken” and “the disappointment I feel today is beyond words”.

Depp had sued his ex-wife for $50m for an article she wrote in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse. Heard (36), counter-sued for $100m saying he smeared her by calling her a liar. Johnny Depp brought the six-week court case after an op-ed in the Washington Post in December 2018 in which Amber Heard said she had endured domestic violence during their 15-month marriage. 

Depp said “ False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career – And six years later, the jury gave my life back. I am truly humbled.”