Jury finds Johnny Depp and Amber Heard both liable for defamation following highly covered public trial, Free Speech implications debated

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Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation over an op-ed in which Heard referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse,” resulting in a messy and dramatic trial that garnered massive media attention. After the jury ruled in Depp’s favor, Heard lamented that her Free Speech rights had been violated.  

Key Players

Amber Heard, an American actress known for her roles in “Aquaman” and a wide range of popular movies, was married to Depp for a year, between 2015 and 2016. 

Johnny Depp, an American actor most notably known for his roles in “Edward Scissorhands” and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard after her op-ed was published. 

Further Details

In May 2016, days after filing for divorce, Heard publicly accused Depp of domestic violence, Vox reported. She requested and received a restraining order against him after arriving at a California court with a bruised face. In her application, Heard wrote that Depp had been verbally and physically abusive throughout their relationship, The New York Times reported. Three months later, the pair reached a divorce settlement.

In 2018, Depp sued the executive editor and publisher of The Sun, a British tabloid, for libel after it called him a “wife beater.” In 2020, when the case went to trial in the United Kingdom’s High Court, The Sun had to prove its reporting on Depp was correct. Heard, a key witness at the time, testified and detailed 14 instances in which she said Depp had abused her. Later, U.K. Judge Andrew Nicol ruled in favor of The Sun, writing “Mr Depp put her in fear of her life.” After that verdict, Depp was asked to resign from the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise. 

However, because Depp sued the newspaper and not Heard personally, the verdict in the U.K. court was not grounds to prevent or dismiss Depp’s U.S. lawsuit against her, which he filed in March 2019.  It was seemingly triggered by an opinion piece Heard wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018, describing her experience of being blacklisted in Hollywood for speaking out against abuse. While the op-ed did not name Depp explicitly, the actor was subsequently dropped from the sixth “Pirates” movie, The Times reported.   

Depp alleged that Heard had defamed him, and he sought $50 million in damages.

On April 12, 2022, the Depp-Heard case opened in Fairfax County Circuit Court, a  trial court of general jurisdiction in the Washington suburbs, the largest of its kind in Virginia, Judge Penney S. Azcarate presided. 

According to The New Yorker, Heard’s legal team unsuccessfully tried to move the case from Virginia to California, where many of the contested incidents occurred and where anti-SLAPP laws (state statutes that strive to stop people from using the courts for allegedly frivolous First Amendment claims) are stronger.   

Over the course of six weeks, more than 40 witnesses were called to testify, including family members, psychologists, and property owners. Both Depp and Heard gave detailed and intimate testimonies, Insider reported. Lawyers on both sides of the case also brought in text messages, love notes, and various recordings of the couple’s arguments.

During her testimony, Heard accused Depp of a pattern of violence that often resulted from his lashing out while under the influence of drugs. However, Depp testified that Heard was the aggressor in the relationship. Several times, the two recounted past incidents, such as one in Australia, in completely different ways. 

The trial generated intense media coverage, with clips and memes garnering millions of views on social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, according to The New Yorker. “Saturday Night Live” also did its own parody of the trial. Online discussion channels fostered intense debate, with users overwhelmingly siding with Depp and denouncing Heard. 

“Makes me sick listening to Amber Heard,” one user tweeted. According to The Atlantic, another tweeted that “Literally amber heard is the plague.” 

By the end of the trial, on TikTok, the tag #justiceforjohnnydepp had 19.6 billion views, while #istandwithamberheard had 19.8 million, NBC News reported. 

Outcome 

Virginia jury finds Johnny Depp and Amber Heard both liable for defamation

On June 1, 2022, the seven-person jury found that Depp had been defamed by Heard in the 2018 op-ed and awarded him $15 million in damages. 

However, the jury also found that Depp, through his lawyer Adam Waldman, defamed Heard, awarding her $2 million. In January 2021, after Heard countersued Depp for $100 million, Waldman had told the Daily Mail that the actress’s allegations were “abuse hoax.” 

“The jury gave me my life back,” Depp said in a victory statement, a stark contrast to the reaction of his ex-wife. 

“I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband,” Heard said, referring to the verdict as a throwback “to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.”

Heard laments loss of Free Speech, but experts say otherwise 

After the verdict, in a statement on Twitter, Heard said, “I’m sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American — to speak freely and openly.” 

But legal experts disagreed with her: 

Roy Gutterman, director of Syracuse University’s Tully Center for Free Speech, told Insider that the case was an issue of credibility more than Free Speech, adding, “The jurors believed Johnny Depp over Amber Heard.” 

Mitra Ahouraian, a Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer, said the case was “not about the First Amendment,” adding that one “cannot lie and say statements that harm people. That is not protected speech.” 

“If you lie about somebody and the jury thinks you’re lying, then you shouldn’t be protected in that way, and it’s not going to chill your First Amendment right to speak,” said John Culhane, a professor at Widener University Delaware Law School.

Dan Novack, a media lawyer, emphasized to The Atlantic that the case was a fair trial by jury. “First Amendment advocates need not view this as an insurmountable blow to free speech,” he said. 

Lawyers say Depp’s win could embolden others accused of abuse

Due to the publicity over the trial, Charles Tobin, a First Amendment lawyer, told The Times that “Some people will definitely look at this as a playbook for suing your accuser.” 

Nicole Ligon, who teaches media law and entertainment law at Duke University Law School, said, “Well-resourced individuals who feel slighted by speech that embarrassed or criticized them in some way may feel emboldened by this verdict.” 

Other lawyers and advocacy groups suggested the case could chill Free Speech for victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, fueling fears that speaking out could result in serious consequences. 

Heard’s countersuit awaits

According to Vox, Heard’s January 2021 countersuit for $100 million is awaiting its day in court.