Tag: Johnny Depp defamation case

  • Johnny Depp wins defamation case, ex-wife Amber Heard to pay USD 15 Million

    By Associated Press

    FAIRFAX: A jury on Wednesday awarded Johnny Depp $10.35 million in his libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, vindicating his stance that Heard fabricated claims that she was abused by Depp before and during their brief marriage.

    The jury also found in favor of Heard, who said she was defamed by Depp’s lawyer when he called her abuse allegations a hoax. The jury awarded her $2 million in damages.

    The verdicts bring an end to a televised trial that Depp had hoped would help restore his reputation, though it turned into a spectacle of a vicious marriage. Throughout the trial, fans — overwhelmingly on Depp’s side — lined up overnight for coveted courtroom seats. Spectators who couldn’t get in gathered on the street to cheer Depp and jeer Heard whenever either appeared outside.

    Depp sued Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

    While the case was ostensibly about libel, most of the testimony focused on whether Heard had been physically and sexually abused, as she claimed. Heard enumerated more than a dozen alleged assaults, including a fight in Australia — where Depp was shooting a “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel — in which Depp lost the tip of his middle finger and Heard said she was sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.

    Depp said he never hit Heard and that she was the abuser, though Heard’s attorneys highlighted years-old text messages Depp sent apologizing to Heard for his behavior as well as profane texts he sent to a friend in which Depp said he wanted to kill Heard and defile her dead body.

    In some ways, the trial was a replay of a lawsuit Depp filed in the United Kingdom against a British tabloid after he was described as a “wife beater.” The judge in that case ruled in the newspaper’s favor after finding that Heard was telling the truth in her descriptions of abuse.

    In the Virginia case, Depp had to prove not only that he never assaulted Heard, but that Heard’s article — which focused primarily on public policy related to domestic violence — defamed him. He also had to prove that Heard wrote the article with actual malice. And to claim damages he had to prove that her article caused the damage to his reputation as opposed to any number of articles before and after Heard’s piece that detailed the allegations against him.

    Depp, in his final testimony to the jury, said the trial gave him a chance to clear his name in a way that he the U.K trial never allowed.

    “No matter what happens, I did get here and I did tell the truth and I have spoken up for what I’ve been carrying on my back, reluctantly, for six years.” Depp said.

    Heard, on the other hand, said the trial has been an ordeal inflicted by an orchestrated smear campaign led by Depp.

    “Johnny promised me — promised me — that he’d ruin my life, that he’d ruin my career. He’d take my life from me,” Heard said in her final testimony.

    The case captivated millions through its gavel-to-gavel television coverage and impassioned followers on social media who dissected everything from the actors’ mannerisms to the possible symbolism of what they were wearing. Both performers emerge from the trial with reputations in tatters with unclear prospects for their careers.

    Eric Rose, a crisis management and communications expert in Los Angeles, called the trial a “classic murder-suicide.”

    “From a reputation management perspective, there can be no winners,” he said. “They’ve bloodied each other up. It becomes more difficult now for studios to hire either actor because you’re potentially alienating a large segment of your audience who may not like the fact that you have retained either Johnny or Amber for a specific project because feelings are so strong now.”

    Depp, a three-time best actor Oscar nominee, had until recent years been a bankable star. His turn as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film helped turn it into a global franchise, but he’s lost that role. (Heard and Depp’s teams each blame the other.) He was also replaced as the title character in the third “Fantastic Beasts” spin-off film, “The Crimes of Grindelwald.”

    Despite testimony at the trial that he could be violent, abusive and out of control, Depp received a standing ovation Tuesday night in London after performing for about 40 minutes with Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall. He has previously toured with Joe Perry and Alice Cooper as the group Hollywood Vampires.

    Heard’s acting career has been more modest, and her only two upcoming roles are in a small film and the upcoming “Aquaman” sequel due out next year.

    Depp’s lawyers fought to keep the case in Virginia, in part because state law provided some legal advantages compared with California, where the two reside. A judge ruled that Virginia was an acceptable forum for the case because The Washington Post’s printing presses and online servers are in the county.

  • Jury sides with Johnny Depp in libel case, awards him over USD 10 million

    By Associated Press

    FAIRFAX: A jury sided Wednesday with Johnny Depp in his libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, awarding the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor more than $10 million and vindicating his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her before and during their brief marriage.

    But in a split decision, the jury also found that Heard was defamed by one of Depp’s lawyers, who accused her of creating a detailed hoax that included roughing up the couple’s apartment to look worse for police. The jury awarded her $2 million.

    The verdicts bring an end to a televised trial that Depp had hoped would help restore his reputation, though it turned into a spectacle that offered a window into a vicious marriage.

    Heard, who was stoic in the courtroom as the verdict was read, said she was heartbroken.

    “I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It’s a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously,’’ she said in a statement posted on her Twitter account.

    Depp, who was not in court Wednesday, said “the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”

    “I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up,” he said in a statement posted to Instagram.

    Depp sued Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

    The jury found in Depp’s favor on all three of his claims relating to specific statements in the 2018 piece.

    Throughout the proceedings, fans who were overwhelmingly on Depp’s side lined up overnight for coveted courtroom seats. Spectators who couldn’t get in gathered on the street to cheer Depp and jeer Heard whenever they appeared outside.

    A crowd of about 200 people cheered when Depp’s lawyers came out after the verdict. “Johnny for president!” one man yelled repeatedly.

    Greg McCandless, 51, a retired private detective from Reston, Virginia, stood outside the courthouse wearing a pirate hat and red head scarf, a nod to Depp’s famous role as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.

    “I do believe that there was defamation, and I do believe that it did hurt his career,” McCandless said. “I think the jury heard the evidence, and the verdict was just.”

    In evaluating Heard’s counterclaims, jurors considered three statements by a lawyer for Depp who called her allegations a hoax. They found she was defamed by one of them, in which the lawyer claimed that she and friends “spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight,” and called police.

    Sydni Porter, 30, drove an hour from her home in Maryland to show support for Heard. She said the verdict was disappointing, but not surprising, and sends a message to women that “as much evidence as you have (of abuse), it’s never going to be enough.”

    The jury found Depp should receive $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, but the judge said state law caps punitive damages at $350,000, meaning Depp was awarded $10.35 million.

    While the case was ostensibly about libel, most of the testimony focused on whether Heard had been physically and sexually abused, as she claimed. Heard enumerated more than a dozen alleged assaults, including a fight in Australia — where Depp was shooting a “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel — in which Depp lost the tip of his middle finger and Heard said she was sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.

    Depp said he never hit Heard and that she was the abuser, though Heard’s attorneys highlighted years-old text messages Depp sent apologizing to Heard for his behavior as well as profane texts he sent to a friend in which Depp said he wanted to kill Heard and defile her dead body.

    In some ways, the trial was a replay of a lawsuit Depp filed in the United Kingdom against a British tabloid after he was described as a “wife beater.” The judge in that case ruled in the newspaper’s favor after finding that Heard was telling the truth in her descriptions of abuse.

    In the Virginia case, Depp had to prove not only that he never assaulted Heard, but that Heard’s article — which focused primarily on public policy related to domestic violence — defamed him. He also had to prove that Heard wrote the article with actual malice.

    And to claim damages, he had to prove that her article caused the damage to his reputation as opposed to any number of articles before and after Heard’s piece that detailed the allegations against him.

    The case captivated millions through its gavel-to-gavel television coverage, including impassioned followers on social media who dissected everything from the actors’ mannerisms to the possible symbolism of what they were wearing. Both performers emerge from the trial with reputations in tatters with unclear prospects for their careers.

    Eric Rose, a crisis management and communications expert in Los Angeles, called the trial a “classic murder-suicide.”

    “From a reputation-management perspective, there can be no winners,” he said. “They’ve bloodied each other up. It becomes more difficult now for studios to hire either actor because you’re potentially alienating a large segment of your audience who may not like the fact that you have retained either Johnny or Amber for a specific project because feelings are so strong now.”

    Depp, a three-time best actor Oscar nominee, had until recent years been a bankable star. His turn as Sparrow helped turn the “Pirates of the Caribbean” into a global franchise, but he’s lost that role. He was also replaced in the third “Fantastic Beasts” spin-off film, “The Secrets of Dumbledore.”

    Despite testimony at the trial that he could be violent, abusive and out of control, Depp received a standing ovation Tuesday night in London after performing for about 40 minutes with Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall.

    Heard’s acting career has been more modest, and her only two upcoming roles are in a small film and the upcoming “Aquaman” sequel due out next year.

    Depp’s lawyers fought to keep the case in Virginia, in part because state law provided some legal advantages compared with California, where the two reside. A judge ruled that Virginia was an acceptable forum for the case because The Washington Post’s printing presses and online servers are in the county.

  • Johnny Depp’s ex-agent: Abuse cost him ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: A former agent for Hollywood star Johnny Depp testified that Amber Heard’s abuse allegations had a ‘traumatic impact’ on Depp’s image, and cost him the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise.Christian Carino, a talent agent at Creative Artists Agency, appeared by video deposition at Depp’s defamation trial.Depp is suing Heard, his former wife, for $50 million, claiming that she destroyed his career by fabricating claims of domestic violence, reports ‘Variety’.Carino testified that it became clear, through conversations with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and CAA co-chair Bryan Lourd, that Disney had decided it could not continue to employ Depp.Carino said that the abuse claims were never openly discussed as the reason, but that it was simply “understood” within the industry.Carino was friends with both Heard and Depp, and represented both of them at various points, though he said he no longer has a relationship with either of them.He testified that Depp is “one of the finest actors of his generation”, and that has not changed despite the turmoil of his life in recent years. But he also said that the lawsuits with his former business manager, his former attorney, and with Heard have damaged Depp’s off-screen image.”I think what he was known for off-screen was a shroud of mystery of who he was, because he was not visible to the public,” Carino said.”It changed with the exposure that came with the lawsuits.”According to ‘Variety’, Carino was asked about the production of the fifth ‘Pirates’ film, in 2015, and acknowledged that Depp was routinely late to set.”I’m aware of him being tardy, but he’s been tardy on everything his entire life,” Carino said, adding that the production had figured out how to work around the issue.Carino was vague about when Disney decided not to hire Depp for a potential sixth ‘Pirates’ film, which remains in limbo, saying at first that he could not specify even the year when it occurred. The timing of that decision is a key issue in the case.Depp’s lawyers contend that it came just days after Heard published an op-ed, on December 18, 2018, in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.Heard’s lawyers argue that the decision was actually made earlier.Depp’s lawyers presented Carino with an email chain from December 20, 2018, in which Depp’s agents and publicist passed around a MovieWeb article that stated that Depp “won’t return” to the franchise.”Were we told this officially from Disney?” Carino wrote.Jack Whigham, another agent, responded, “No”.Heard first levelled her allegations in May 2016, when she filed for divorce and sought a restraining order. The restraining order was later dropped and the couple issued a joint statement, in which they stated that neither had made false claims for financial gain.According to ‘Variety’, on Wednesday, the jurors saw video depositions with two LAPD officers and a front desk employee who works at the Eastern Columbia Building, where Depp used to own several penthouses.The officers were called to the penthouses on May 21, 2016, for a report of domestic violence. Heard refused to make a report, and the officers testified they saw no evidence of injury.

  • Johnny Depp grilled about drug, alcohol use at defamation trial

    By AFP

    WASHINGTON: Actor Johnny Depp was grilled about his drug and alcohol use and coarse text messages as he took the witness stand on Thursday for a third day at his defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

    Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn spent more than five hours seeking to undermine the credibility of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star before the seven-person jury hearing the suit in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

    The 58-year-old Depp was asked about his trashing of hotel rooms and the circumstances of an incident in Australia in which the tip of the middle finger on his right hand was severed.

    Depp testified Wednesday that it was caused by a furious Heard throwing a vodka bottle at him. Her lawyer told the jury that Depp had told doctors he cut himself with a knife.

    Depp acknowledged during cross-examination that after his finger was cut he used the wounded digit to scrawl messages around the house using his own blood and paint.

    Heard’s lawyers played a video at one point of Depp slamming cabinet doors in their kitchen and pouring himself a large glass of red wine.

    “I did assault a couple of cabinets but I did not touch Miss Heard,” Depp said when asked about the video. 

    In an audiotape played by her lawyer of a conversation between Depp and Heard, she complains about having bruises on her head, a split lip and a black eye.

    Heard’s lawyers have claimed Depp would become a “monster” during drug- and alcohol-fueled benders and physically and sexually abuse Heard.

    Depp has denied the allegations and claimed it was Heard who was frequently violent during their relationship.

    Depp filed a defamation suit against Heard over a column she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

    Heard, who starred in the movie “Aquaman,” never named Depp — but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.

    The Texas-born Heard, who turns 36 on Friday, countersued, asking for $100 million and claiming she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.

    Depp and Heard met in 2009 on the set of the film “The Rum Diary” and were married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized two years later.  

    ‘Shame and regret’ 

    Rottenborn probed Depp extensively about his drug and alcohol use, including partaking with shock rocker Marilyn Manson.

    “We drank together. We’ve had cocaine together maybe a couple of times,” Depp said. “I once gave Marilyn Manson a pill so that he would stop talking so much.”

    Depp acknowledged using drugs and alcohol to “numb the residual pain from my youth,” but denied Rottenborn’s suggestion it was to excess or that he would ever “black out.”

    Rottenborn read text messages from Depp to various people in which he apologized for his behavior and sought the advice of Elton John on how to get clean.

    “Once again I find myself in a place of shame and regret,” he said in a May 25, 2014 text to Heard. “I will never do it again. I want to get better for you.”

    Depp admitted that he has taken out his anger on objects in the past but denied ever striking Heard.

    “I don’t believe I’m the only human being who has ever punched a door,” he said. “I have assaulted a couch or two.”

    Heard’s lawyers introduced text messages in which Depp used profane language about her, calling her an “idiot cow” and talking about her “rotting corpse.”  

    “Let’s burn Amber,” he said in a text message to the actor Paul Bettany, a friend. “Let’s drown her before we burn her.”

    In a text to Heard’s sister, Depp said “I never want to lay eyes on that filthy whore Amber.”

    Depp was also asked about a “heated argument” he had with Heard over his suspicion that she was having an affair with the actor James Franco.

    Testifying on Wednesday, the thrice Oscar-nominated Depp said the allegations that he was a “drunken, cocaine-fueled menace who beat women” have cost him “everything.”

    The actor said that a “couple of days” after the Post column appeared, Disney announced he would no longer appear as Captain Jack Sparrow in the blockbuster “Pirates” franchise.

    Depp filed the defamation complaint in the United States after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.”