Jury sides with Depp on lawsuit, Heard on counterclaim

Fairfax, Virginia. A jury on Wednesday awarded Johnny Depp more than $10 million in his libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, vindicating his stance that she was abused by him before and during their brief marriage.

The jury found in favor of Heard, who said she was defamed by the lawyer who called her abuse allegations a hoax. She was awarded $2 million in damages by the jury.

The trial turned into a spectacle of a vicious marriage, though the verdicts bring an end to it. Fans on both sides of the trial lined up overnight for coveted courtroom seats. Spectators who couldn't get in gathered on the street to cheer and jeer Heard whenever she appeared outside.

Heard said she was sad.

I'm even more disappointed that this verdict affects other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman could be publicly humiliated if she spoke up. She said in a statement that it sets back the idea that violence against women is taken seriously.

His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned him.

Most of the testimony focused on whether Heard had been physically and sexually abused, as she claimed. There was a fight in Australia in which Johnny Depp lost the tip of his middle finger.

Heard's attorneys highlighted years-old text messages that Depp sent to a friend in which he said he wanted to kill Heard and ruin her life.

The trial was similar to the one in the United Kingdom in which the judge ruled in the newspaper's favor.

In the Virginia case, he had to prove that he never hit Heard, and that she wrote an article that was meant to malign him. He had to prove that Heard wrote the article with malice. He had to prove that her article caused the damage to his reputation as opposed to any other articles before or after Heard's piece.

The trial gave him a chance to clear his name in a way that the U.K trial never allowed, according to Johnny Depp.

No matter what happens, I have spoken up for what I have been carrying on my back for six years.

Heard said the trial was the result of an orchestrated campaign led by Depp.

Johnny promised me that he would ruin my life and ruin my career. Heard said in her final testimony that he would take her life.

Millions of people watched the case on television and on social media and were fascinated by everything from the actors mannerisms to the possible symbolism of what they were wearing. The reputations of both performers are in tatters after the trial.

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

There can be no winners from a reputation management perspective. It becomes more difficult for studios to hire either actor because you are 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.

Until recently, Depp was a bankable star. The movie helped turn it into a global franchise, but he has lost that role. Both teams blame the other. He was replaced as the title character in the third film.

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

Heard's acting career has been more modest and she only has two upcoming roles.

State law in Virginia provided some legal advantages over California, which is where the two reside. The Washington Post's printing presses and online server are in Virginia and that is where the case should be.