Breaking: Johnny Depp wins defamation case against Amber Heard

Heard told the jury last week what she has gone through since splitting with Depp and filing her countersuit. “People want to kill me, and they tell me so every day,” she said. “People want to put my baby in the microwave, and they tell me that. Johnny threatened — promised, promised me — that if I ever left him, he’d make me think of him every day that I lived.”

Depp’s claim required the jury to find that each of three statements by Heard was false, had a defamatory implication and — because he is a public figure — was made with actual malice.

Heard’s claim required the jury to find that a former Depp lawyer was working as an agent for Depp when he made the statements her case cites, that he knew the statements were false and that someone other than Heard saw the statements.

Depp filed a $50-million defamation lawsuit in 2019 against his ex-wife based on a 2018 op-ed she penned for the Washington Post calling herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The op-ed did not mention Depp by name, but was oriented around the time Heard first leveled her allegations of abuse against him.

In 2021, Heard countersued her ex-husband for $100 million, an amount that Heard’s closing arguments revealed to be about sending a message. Both cases have been unfolding in court simultaneously. Heard’s defamation claim pertains to public statements made by Depp’s former attorney, Adam Waldman, that dismissed her allegations of domestic violence as a “hoax.” The trial has been broadcast and livestreamed via CourtTV and other outlets, including YouTube accounts.

While waiting for the jury to reach a verdict, Depp joined English guitarist Jeff Beck onstage at back-to-back-to-back concerts Sunday through Tuesday in England. Model Kate Moss, who testified during rebuttal on Depp’s behalf, reportedly attended a show and spent time backstage afterwards.

Both Depp and Heard previously took the witness stand twice each in their defamation trial, which has been watched closely by the masses and heavily discussed on social media. While testifying, Depp detailed his experiences with childhood abuse, drugs and alcohol and claimed that Heard became “this other person” during their marriage.

Early in their relationship, Depp said, Heard was “attentive,” “loving,” “smart,” “kind,” “funny” and “understanding” — until Depp deviated from certain behavior patterns he said she had established. At one point, Depp accused Heard of throwing a vodka bottle that shattered on his right hand and severed the tip of his middle finger during a 2015 fight they had in Australia. In her testimony, Heard alleged that Depp injured his own finger by smashing a telephone against a wall.