Johnny Depp won a defamation suit Wednesday against his former wife Amber Heard after a jury found that she had defamed Depp by saying that he had abused her over the course of their relationship.
Also Read: Special Prosecutor Freezes All Assets Owned By Sir John
The jury unanimously found that Heard could not substantiate her allegations against Depp and that she knew her claims of abuse were false when she published her 2018 essay.
The jury determined that Heard acted with actual malice when writing her op-ed. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the punitive damages the jury awarded to Depp to $350,000, which is the state’s statutory cap or legal limit, making his total damages $10.4 million.
Mind Your Own Business – IGP Dampare Tells British High Commissioner
“From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome,” Depp said in a statement Wednesday. “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.”
Depp said that “the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”
Heard had countersued for $100 million and said she was only ever violent with Depp in self-defence or defence of her younger sister. Heard’s countersuit centred around three statements made by Depp’s former attorney Adam Waldman in 2020 to the Daily Mail, in which he described Heard’s allegations of abuse as a “hoax.”
The jury found that Depp, through Waldman, defamed Heard on one count. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages but $0 in punitive damages.
SOURCE: NBCNEWS
