Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard: Jury finds both guilty, Depp gets more in damages

The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages from Heard. The panel awarded Heard $2 million in damages. Depp sued Heard for $50 million and argued that she defamed him when she called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse" in a newspaper opinion piece.

In a closely watched six-week trial that contained raw and graphic evidence and testimony revealing the former Hollywood couple's strained relationship, a Virginia jury concluded on Wednesday that actress Amber Heard defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp.

In several areas of Heard's counter-suit against Depp, the jury ruled in her favour. Depp received $15 million in damages from Heard, according to the jury. Heard was given $2 million in damages by the panel.

Depp, the 58-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, sued Heard for $50 million, claiming she defamed him in a newspaper opinion piece when she called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse." Heard, 36, countersued for $100 million, claiming Depp smeared her when his lawyer called her accusations a "hoax."

Depp has denied beating Heard or any other woman, claiming that she was the one who made their relationship violent. Depp and Heard met on the set of "The Rum Diary" in 2011 and married in February 2015. Two years later, their divorce was official.

The legal lawsuit revolves around a December 2018 Washington Post opinion post in which Heard made the allegation concerning domestic abuse. Although Depp's name was not mentioned in the piece, his lawyer told jurors that it was apparent that Heard was referring to him.

During six weeks of testimony, Heard's lawyers contended that she had expressed the truth and that her views were protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Jurors were shown gruesome images of Depp's bloody finger and listened to recordings of the couple's clashes throughout the trial. When Heard hurled a vodka bottle at him in 2015, he claims the top of his finger was chopped. Heard denied hurting Depp's finger and asserted that Depp sexually abused her with a liquor bottle later on that night. She claimed she merely struck him to protect herself or her sister.

The hearing was widely livestreamed on social media, attracting massive viewers eager to learn more about the couple's tense relationship.

Depp, who used to be one of Hollywood's top stars, said Heard's accusations cost him "everything." Depp was replaced in the "Fantastic Beasts" film franchise, a "Harry Potter" spinoff, after a new "Pirates" picture was put on hold.

Depp lost a libel action against the Sun, a British tabloid, for calling him a "wife beater" less than two years ago. Heard was frequently abused, according to a London High Court judge. Because the Washington Post is printed in Fairfax County, Virginia, Depp's lawyers filed the U.S. complaint there. The newspaper is not a party in the case.