Johnny Depp wins defamation case against Amber Heard

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Johnny Depp has won his libel lawsuit case over an op-ed in which his ex-wife, Amber Heard, wrote about domestic abuse, BBC News reports.

The verdicts were read out in the Virginia courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. The civil jury, which consisted of seven people, came to a unanimous decision to reach each verdict. They had deliberated for around 12 hours over three days.

The jurors - made up of five men and two women - started deliberating on Friday afternoon and were asked to determine whether Heard and Depp defamed one another in statements they'd made about their relationship.

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Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy

Depp and his ex Heard were suing each other over a 2018 op-ed the actress wrote for The Washington Post. Closing arguments took place last week, with Depp's legal counsel insisting that the Aquaman star was lying when she claimed to be a victim of physical and sexual violence.

Throughout the trial, which started in April, attorneys for Depp argued that Heard's op-ed implied he was physically abusive towards his former wife - despite the fact that he was not named in it. His legal team also alleged that Heard's accusations cost him his reputation and his illustrious Hollywood career.

Depp had been seeking $50 million in damages. Heard, on the other hand, was seeking an eye-watering $100 million.

Jurors found that Depp was entitled to $10 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages of $5 million. However, as Virginia state law caps punitive damages at $350,000, Depp will actually be awarded $10.35 million.

Meanwhile, the jury has awarded Heard $2 million in damages based on her $100 million countersuit.

A key moment in the weeks-long trial saw Kate Moss confirm to the jury that Depp never pushed her down the stairs, as Heard appeared to allege in her testimony.

The 48-year-old supermodel testified via video link as a rebuttal witness and told the court that she had never been assaulted by Depp at any point in their relationship.

Her brief testimony saw her being questioned by Depp's attorney, Ben Chew, about their four-year romance.

Referring to rumors that the actor pushed her down the stairs during a vacation in Jamaica, she stated that this was not true.

"We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did, and there had been a rainstorm," she told the court from Gloucestershire, England. "As I left the room, I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back."

"I screamed because I didn’t know what had happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me, and carried me to my room, and got me medical attention."

Chew then asked again whether his client, Depp, had ever "pushed her down the stairs" at any point in their relationship.

Moss answered: "No, he never pushed me, kicked me or pushed me down any stairs."

Another much-talked about moment in the trial occurred during Depp's testimony, in which he told the court that he was a "victim of domestic violence". He made the statement as he wrapped up his final day of testimony at the end of April.

"Tell the world, Johnny," Heard said in an audio recording played to the court. "Tell them I, Johnny Depp - a man - I'm a victim too of domestic violence."

Back in court, Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez asked her client what he had responded to Heard's suggestion that he is a victim of domestic violence, and he replied: "Yes, I am."

Featured image credit: Abaca Press / Alamy