Johnny Depp on Wednesday won his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard and the jury awarded him $15 million in damages.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million after she wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she called herself a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit.
Heard, who filed a countersuit for $100 million, was awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages.
After the verdict, Depp released a statement celebrating his legal victory:
“Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed. All in the blink of an eye.”
He added: “False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career.”
“And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled,” he said before adding: “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun. Veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes.”
