After about six weeks of hearing the defamation case launched by Johnny Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard, the jury decided that she was guilty of defamation.
But, they said he was, too.
See, Depp sued Heard for defamation over an article she wrote in The Washington Post. In the article, she said she was a public figure that represented domestic abuse, but she never mentioned Depp by name. Over the course of the trial, Depp’s legal team had to prove three things – one, that it was Depp she was talking about; two, that the statements she made in the op-ed were false; and three, that the statements she made led to a loss for him in terms of his ability to work (in this case, his ability to get movie roles).
The jury said that it was clear that the article was about him, so she was guilty of defaming him and his reputation.
But they also ruled that Depp, through his lawyer, defamed Heard during the court case, and so she was entitled to some compensation for that.
Heard was awarded US$2 million based on the charges she won, but that gets curbed pretty quickly compared to the US$15 million that Depp won from his charges.
Ultimately, though, whether you think this is the pinnacle of legal disputes, or you think this is just another example of #richpeopleproblems, there’s one thing we can all agree is good about this case – that it’s over.
