Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Jury Reaches Verdict in Defamation Case
thewrap.comThe jury in Johnny Depp’s defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard has reached a verdict, a court spokesperson said Wednesday.
The verdict was set to be announced around noon PT in a Virginia courtroom after the panel spent three days deliberating over six weeks of grueling, emotional, and highly contradictory testimony.Court officials said the decision was to be read one hour after the announcement Wednesday that a verdict had been reached.Depp sued Heard for defamation, claiming her 2018 Washington Post op-ed – in which she identified as a victim of domestic abuse – trashed his career.
He says he was the abuse victim in their fiery relationship and is seeking $50 million, though he testified that the purpose of his case is to repair his legacy for his children and restore his reputation in the entertainment industry.Heard, meanwhile, counter-sued for $100 million, based on claims that Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman defamed her when he spoke to British newspapers during the U.K.
version of the case, which Depp lost. Waldman repeatedly said in the press that Heard’s story was a “hoax” perpetrated by a scorned ex bent on destroying Depp’s life.The nitty-gritty legal details behind those defamation claims could be the crux of a case that was otherwise highlighted by harrowing testimony from Heard, who described nightmarish encounters with a blacked-out Depp in 2014 and 2015.
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