As a public figure, Johnny Depp faced a high bar to win his defamation suit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. According to seven unanimous jurors, he clarified this.
Depp said his ex-wife defamed him in a 2018 opinion piece in the newspaper in which he alluded to allegations of abuse against Depp. His name was never mentioned.
Virginia’s civil jury ruled Wednesday in favor of Depp in his three charges, finding that Heard had not only made false and defamatory statements, but had done so with “real malice,” a higher threshold for cases involving public. figures. Jurors concluded that Depp should receive more than $ 10 million.
Depp’s victory was not absolute, however. Jurors also concluded that part of Heard’s counterclaim had merit. They rejected two of Heard’s three charges, but found that she was defamed by a Depp lawyer who accused her of abusing her apartment to make it look worse to police. The jury awarded him $ 2 million.
A look at each count that the jurors have considered:
FIRST ACCOUNT AGAINST HEARING
Jurors considered whether Depp was defamed by the online headline of the opinion piece in The Washington Post: “I spoke out against sexual violence and faced the wrath of our culture. That must change.” .
Heart’s lawyers argued that she did not write the headline.
But jurors concluded that Heard “did or published it” and that it was defamatory.
SECOND ACCOUNT AGAINST LISTENING
Jurors considered the third paragraph of the opinion: “Then, two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s anger at women. they were talking. “
Depp’s lawyers said he was clearly referring to Depp, as Heard publicly accused him of domestic violence in 2016.
Heard’s lawyers said a wealth of evidence showed that Heard was abused many times and that only a proven instance of abuse would make the line not defamatory. They also argued that the statement was objectively true, because it did not focus on Depp, but on Heard’s experience.
Jurors disagreed and found the statement defamatory.
THIRD ACCOUNT AGAINST HEARING
In a second passage of the opinion, Heard wrote: “I had the very rare point of view to see, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
Depp’s lawyers reiterated that he was clearly referring to Depp.
And, as with the other two charges, the jurors found Heard had defamed Depp with “real malice”: there was clear and convincing evidence that Heard knew he was false or acted with reckless contempt for the truth.
FIRST ACCOUNT AGAINST DEPP
Heard filed three defamation charges against Depp, saying she had been repeatedly slandered by her former attorney Adam Waldman, who described Heart’s allegations of abuse as misleading. Heard said the comments hurt his career.
Jurors considered a statement by Waldman to appear on The Daily Mail’s website on April 8, 2020: “Amber Heard and her friends in the media use false accusations of sexual violence as a sword and shield of their needs. They have selected some of them. “facts” of deception of sexual violence such as the sword, inflicting them on the public and Mr. Depp. “
Jurors concluded that Heard’s attorneys had not proved all the elements of the defamation.
SECOND ACCOUNT AGAINST DEPP
Heard got his only win over a statement Waldman made to the Daily Mail. He accused Heard and his friends of making allegations of abuse after a 2016 fight in the couple’s Hollywood attic that caused Heard to call police.
The statement said: “It was just an ambush, a hoax. They put Mr Depp on the police, but the first attempt did not work. he left after seeing no damage to his face or property, so Amber and her friends spilled some wine and damaged the place, putting their stories directly under the direction of a lawyer. and publicist and then they called 911 “.
Two officers said they saw no evidence of Heard being injured, although he appeared in public with a mark on his face a few days later requesting a temporary restraining order.
Jurors agreed with Heard’s attorneys that Waldman’s statement was false and defamatory and that he had acted with real malice.
THIRD ACCOUNT AGAINST DEPP
The final count against Waldman involved a statement from the same article: “We have reached the beginning of the end of Mrs. Heard’s abuse of deception against Johnny Depp.”
Jurors concluded that Heard’s attorneys had failed to prove the statement defamatory.