The jury in the defamation trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has reached a verdict on the third day of deliberations.
Depp sued Heard for $50m for implying he abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. Although she didn’t name him, he claims her allegations impacted his ability to work. She is pursuing a $100m counterclaim.
In closing arguments on Friday, Depp’s lawyers asked jurors to “give him his life back” after it was “ruined” by Heard’s domestic abuse allegations. They alleged Heard would rather be in a fight than let the actor leave, called her claims an act of profound cruelty to true survivors, and said that she gave the performance of her life on the stand.
In their closing, Heard’s lawyers said ruling in favour of Depp would make jurors an “accomplice” to his abuse and to his “campaign of global humiliation”, and called out the actor for “laughing” and “snide comments” during closing arguments, adding that he engaged in “victim-blaming at its most disgusting”.
Depp’s team on Tuesday filed a failed motion to strike part of Heard’s closing which asked jurors to consider the “message” that ruling against her would send to other abuse victims.
