Depp Heard it right!

The jury sided with Johnny Depp in his libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard on Wednesday, awarding the Pirates of the Caribbean actor $ 10 million and vindicating his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her before and during their brief marriage.

But in a split decision, the jury also found that Heard was defamed by one of Depp’s lawyers, who accused her of creating a detailed hoax that included roughing up the couple’s apartment to look worse for the police. The jury awarded her $ 2 million. Depp was not in attendance at the Virginia courthouse when the verdict was read. The actor is currently in the UK.

Amber heartbroken

Heard, who was stoic in the courtroom as the verdict was read, said she was heartbroken. “I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women... It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously,” she said in a statement posted on her Twitter account.

On his part, Depp posted on Instagram: “The jury gave back my life. I hope my quest for truth will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up.”

Depp sued Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

The jury found in Depp’s favour on all three of his claims relating to specific statements in the 2018 piece. Throughout the proceedings, fans who were 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.

A crowd of close to 200 people cheered when Depp’s lawyers came out after the verdict. The jury found Depp should receive $10 million in compensatory damages and $ 5 million in punitive damages, but the judge said state law caps punitive damages at $ 350,000, meaning Depp was awarded $ 10.35 million.

Knotty affair

While the case was ostensibly about libel, most of the testimony focused on whether Amber Heard had been physically and sexually abused, as she claimed. Heard enumerated more than a dozen alleged assaults, including a fight in Australia — where Johnny Depp was shooting a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel — in which Depp lost the tip of his middle finger and Heard said she was sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.

Depp said he never hit Heard and that she was the abuser, though Heard’s attorneys highlighted years-old text messages Depp sent apologising to Heard for his behaviour as well as profane texts he sent to a friend in which Depp said he wanted to kill Heard and defile her dead body. In some ways, the trial was a replay of a lawsuit Depp filed in the United Kingdom against a British tabloid after he was described as a “wife beater.” The judge in that case ruled in the newspaper’s favour after finding that Heard was telling the truth in her descriptions of abuse.

In the Virginia case, Depp had to prove not only that he never assaulted Heard, but that Heard’s article — which focused primarily on public policy related to domestic violence — defamed him. He also had to prove that Heard wrote the article with actual malice.

And to claim damages, he had to prove that her article caused the damage to his reputation as opposed to any number of articles before and after Heard’s piece that detailed the allegations against him. — AP

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Kate Moss at Depp’s concert

Days after testifying in Hollywood star Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard, the actor’s ex-girlfriend and model Kate Moss was spotted leaving his performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The supermodel was spotted leaving the venue on May 31 after Depp took the stage with rock guitarist Jeff Beck. The UK performance marked Depp’s third consecutive show of the week with Beck. Prior to attending his concert at Royal Albert Hall, Moss, who dated the Pirates of the Caribbean actor from 1994 to 1998, testified during his defamation trial against Amber Heard on May 25.

IANS

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Meet the new ‘wonder woman’

Depp-Heard case has an unlikely star. Camille Vasquez is one of the nine attorneys’ team that won the Pirates of the Caribbean star the defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Along with attorney Benjamin Chew, Camille Vasquez’s strong, professional stance through the highly published case won Depp’s team some admirers. Soon after the verdict, Camille is being hailed as the true ‘wonder woman’ by Twitterati. It’s not just the professional acumen that has made her an internet sensation. Camille-Johnny’s affectionate ways— holding hands, arm on shoulder or the winning hug— hasn’t been lost on the fans, who have minutely been observing the court proceedings gavel to gavel. Their dating rumours have sparked the internet. When asked to clarify her stance, the 38-year-old’s Camille laughed on camera.

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Contrasting moods

Hollywood star Johnny Depp issued a lengthy statement celebrating the verdict: “From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.” However, Heard slammed the decision in her own statement: “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words...” — IANS

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Meme festival

As the highly publicised Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial came to an end, Twitterati burst into a meme festival. Right from Depp dancing to Malhari to ‘the day you will always remember as when you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow’, memes flooded the social media. From the poop instance to the case being decided within six weeks, barbs were flying all over.

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A pint, fish and chips

Hollywood star Johnny Depp enjoyed a British meal of fish and chips, and a pint, in a pub to celebrate his victory. Photographs and video footage of the Hollywood star at The Bridge Tavern on the Quayside in Newcastle circulated on social media, with Geordie Sam, 28, sharing a snap with the Black Mass actor and Jeff Beck, who Depp has been performing with on his tour across the UK since the trial ended last week. IANS