"Setback for other women": Heard and Depp comment on the trial verdict

In the defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, both are found guilty, but Heard on significantly more counts.

"Setback for other women": Heard and Depp comment on the trial verdict

In the defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, both are found guilty, but Heard on significantly more counts. The actress is disappointed with the verdict. The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star believes he's got his life back and has uncovered the truth.

The jury in Johnny Depp's defamation trial also partly agreed with Amber Heard. But your ex-husband always emerges as the winner. In a statement on Instagram, the actress is disappointed after the verdict was announced.

Heard therefore lacked the words to express the disappointment she felt. "I am heartbroken that the mountain of evidence was still insufficient to confront the disproportionate power and influence [...] of my ex-husband," writes the 36-year-old. She was even more disappointed with "what this judgment means for other women. It's a setback."

The jury's verdict "turns back time," Heard said, "to a point where women who spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated." It is also a setback "for the concept that violence against women must be taken seriously".

She believes Depp's lawyers managed to get the jury to overlook the "key issue of free speech" and ignore evidence that led to the actor's defeat at a trial in the UK.

The Hollywood star's ex-wife was "sad" that she lost the process. But she is even sadder that she has apparently lost a right that she believed she had as an American - namely to speak freely and openly.

Depp also contacted his followers on Instagram after the verdict was announced. Among other things, he said that his life and that of his children and loved ones "changed forever" about six years ago. Heard's allegations had a "shattering impact". But now the jury had "given his life back" to him. No matter how the trial ended, the actor's goal was "to uncover the truth." Now he has found his inner peace.

The jury largely found Johnny Depp right in a June 1 defamation trial against Heard in the United States. Since Heard slandered him, she had to pay 15 million US dollars in damages – the equivalent of around 14 million euros. However, the jury found that Depp also defamed his ex-wife to a lesser degree and was ordered to pay $2 million.

Depp sued Heard for $50 million for a post she published in the Washington Post in 2018. In it, she claimed to be a victim of domestic violence. She did not mention her ex-husband by name. Depp explained that the post ruined his career, damaged his reputation and cost him a lot of money. Heard had filed a $100 million counterclaim against her ex-husband.

In 2015, Heard and Depp got married. The separation took place in 2016 and the divorce in 2017. Both parties had repeatedly accused each other of domestic violence. The actor lost a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper "The Sun" in Great Britain in 2020. The newspaper had described Depp in an article as a "wife beater". However, Depp has denied all allegations.