Johnny Depp emerged victorious in a defamation suit against his former wife, Amber Heard. The jury found that Heard had defamed Depp by making allegations of abuse during their relationship.
Depp sued for $50 million in damages over a 2018 opinion-editorial essay in The Washington Post, where Heard, without naming Depp, claimed to be a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Although the essay didn't directly mention Depp, his attorneys argued that it indirectly referred to Heard's allegations made during their 2016 divorce. The jury unanimously concluded that Heard couldn't substantiate her claims, and she knew they were false when publishing the essay.
They found Heard acted with actual malice. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
However, the judge later reduced the punitive damages to $350,000, the state's legal limit, resulting in a total of $10.4 million for Depp. In response, Depp stated that the goal was to reveal the truth, expressing gratitude for the jury giving him his life back.
Heard had countersued for $100 million, arguing self-defense in response to Depp's alleged violence. The jury found that Depp, through his former attorney Adam Waldman, defamed Heard in one count, awarding her $2 million in compensatory damages but no punitive damages.
