- The judge issued a written order directing Heard to pay Depp 10.35 million dollars.
- She had portrayed herself as a victim of domestic abuse in an opinion piece.
- The jury, in its verdict, sided largely with Depp.
On Friday, the jury’s verdict in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation case became official when the judge issued a written order directing Heard to pay Depp 10.35 million dollars (£8.43 million) in restitution for harming his reputation by portraying herself as a victim of domestic abuse in an opinion piece.
After a brief hearing in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Penney Azcarate filed a judgment order into the court file.
Additionally, she ordered that Depp pay Heard the two million dollars ($1.62 million) judgment award on her counterclaim that one of Depp’s attorneys had slandered Heard.
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After a sensational trial in which the couple disclosed explicit descriptions of their brief marriage during a televised trial that was closely followed on social media, the jury’s announcement of its verdict on June 1 and the subsequent order became a formality. The jury, in its verdict, sided largely with Depp.
Depp sued Heard over a December 2018 piece she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”.
All three of Depp’s claims relating to certain remarks in the 2018 essay were upheld by the jury.
The judge cut the punitive damages award to 350,000 dollars (£285,000) due to a state cap after the jury determined that Depp should receive 10 million dollars (£8.14 million) in compensatory damages and 5 million dollars (£1.22 million) in punitive damages.
Heard has stated that she intends to challenge the judgment.
