A Verdict Reached in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard Case

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Johnny Depp was not in the courtroom but Amber Heard was there when the verdict was announced at 2 p.m. central time.

The jury found that Heard did defame Depp in an editorial Heard authored, answering all questions about the op-ed titled, "I spoke out against domestic violence and that has to change," (read it in the Washington Post here) affirmatively in favor of Depp. The jury awarded $15 million to Depp.

Depp was awarded compensatory damages of $10 million and $5 million in punitive damages. The judge reduced Depp's punitive damages to a statutory limit of $350,000.

The jury found some of Heard's counterclaims unfounded but some of Heard's counterclaims were valid, according to the jury.

The jury awarded Heard $2 million and no punitive damages.

The net amount awarded to Johnny Depp was 

Heard filed a $100 million counter-claim against Depp, claiming he made abuse hoax claims.

At 2 p.m. central time, the jury returned to the courtroom in Fairfax County, Virginia after three days of deliberations. The jury was sent back into deliberations after the judge determined that the jury did not annotate the damages on the verdict worksheet.

Depp was among the world’s biggest movie stars in 2012 and was the world’s highest-paid actor. He is best known for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Walt Disney Studios' “Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

Heard is an actress known for her role at Mera (a princess of an Atlantean kingdom) in the DC Extended Universe franchise’s superhero film Justice League. She reprised the role in 2018 in "Aquaman."

Depp and Heard were married from 2015 until 2016.