Looks like Johnny Depp won. The specific details are as follows.
Amber heard is guilty of libel and has to pay
1.10 million in compensatory damages
2.5 million in punitive damages (capped at 350,000 by the judge)
Johnny Depp is guilty of defamation for claiming Heard and her lawyer ordered her friends to lie to the police and has to pay
1.2 million in compensatory damages
Overall Mr. Depp will get about 8 million dollars in winnings. Above all, the jury found Heard guilty.
It is VERY hard to win a liable case.
The freedom of speech and the freedom of the press really makes it hard. So him winning is a HUGE PR victory and it may save his career. A jury found that he was not abusive and that Heard lied about being abused by him.
Also, Johnny comes away looking good. Heard looks like a sociopathic nightmare that poops in beds and cuts off fingers. The court of public opinion is pro-Depp.
Now will Depp get the 8 million? Maybe. She can appeal the decision, drag things out, and fight this in the court of public opinion more. I doubt she has 8 million in liquid wealth just sitting around.
Amber Heard’s entire net worth is about 8 million dollars. Meaning if she sold all her properties, all her clothes, all her cars, and maybe her Elon Musk sex tape (kidding) than she’d be able to pay. I doubt that is gonna happen.
Remember OJ Simpson got found guilty in civil court for wrongful death and only paid 133k of the 50 million he owed.
I think the Jury likely got this one right. There is some circumstantial evidence that Depp may have been abusive on specific occasions but that is unclear. It is clear that Heard was very abusive and the instigator in most of their fights.
Alex Mann a Historian who specializes in the Roman Empire writing said:
I spoke to a friend of mine I graduated with who is a relationship counselor. She believes that Depp was the abused party. He said that in his experience 1 person is always more guilty and the victim tends to try a bunch of different tactics to make the abuse stop. They will yell back, get violent back, try to escape the argument, try to ignore the argument- anything to make it stop.
This looks like what happened with Depp. He tried yelling back, he tried hitting back (maybe), he tried running from the fight, and he tried to separate from Heard. It’s pretty clear Heard was the instigator here.
I do hope this hurts Heard. I think she is a narcissistic abuser and it wasn’t fair she got to cast Depp as an abuser and herself as a hero for women. Depp deserves to get his career back and Heard deserves to not get any new movie roles.
