Washington: A US jury on Wednesday found Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamed each other, but sided far more strongly with the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star following an intense libel trial involving bitterly contested allegations of sexual violence and domestic abuse.
Depp, who lost a libel case in London in 2020 against The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater,” celebrated the split verdict as a victory and said the jury “gave me my life back.”
The five-man, two-woman jury, after deliberating over three days, found that Heard had defamed Depp in an op-ed piece, and awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
The jury also ruled in favor of Heard in some aspects of her counter-suit against Depp.
The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages from Heard. The panel awarded Heard $2 million in damages.
The verdicts bring an end to a televised trial that Depp had hoped would help restore his reputation, though it turned into a spectacle of a vicious marriage. body. Throughout the trial, fans — overwhelmingly on Depp’s side — lined up overnight for coveted courtroom seats. Spectators who couldn’t get in gathered on the street to cheer Depp and jeer Heard whenever they appeared outside.
