Depp Versus Heard Finally Concludes

Damages awarded

• Heard countersued Depp for defamation over statements made by his attorney. However, the trial concluded when the jury found that Heard and Depp had defamed each other.
• Depp was awarded $15 million in damages. Heard was awarded $2 million in damages.

Defamed Depp

• The defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard finally reached its conclusion after six turbulent weeks of testimony.
• After deliberating, the jury found that Heard had defamed Depp in the 2018 op-ed published by The Washington Post and co-authored by the ACLU. Heard refers to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse in the op-ed.
• Heard testified that Depp had been physically violent with her on several occasions, while Depp testified that Heard was the aggressor in the relationship.
• The trial also revealed a series of text messages between Depp and friends where he uses disparaging and violent language about Heard. They also watched footage of Depp, drunk and belligerent, in their kitchen.
• Depps' agent testified that he had lost out on a deal to be in a sixth "Pirates of the Carribean" due to fallout from the op-ed.
• Heard's lawyers contested that she had the right to express her experience with spousal abuse and domestic violence freely. In 2016, Heard obtained a temporary restraining order against Depp after reporting that he'd assaulted her to law enforcement.
• Depp lost a suit to the U.K. publishers News Group Newspapers over a headline calling him a "wife beater" after a judge ruled the statement to be "substantially true."

The breakdown

• Judge Penney Azcarate, who presided over the trial, reduced Depp's damages to $10 million overall, in accordance with Virginia law.
• Depp's lawyers argued that Heard had fabricated the entire narrative that Depp had been abusive towards her, going so far as to stage paparazzi shots.

Behind the public opinion

• A Vice News investigation found that The Daily Wire, which conservative commentator Ben Shapiro owns, spent between $35,000 and $47,000 on ads promoting articles about the trial which largely favored Depp.
• The ads were promoted on Facebook and Instagram. The site also promoted videos on Facebook, alleging that Heard is entirely at fault and that her allegations caused Depp to lose his career.
• The online reaction to the trial has primarily favored Depp's side and demonized Heard.