AMBER HEARD TRIAL. After being found guilty of defaming her ex-husband Johnny Depp, Amber Heard intends to appeal the verdict, her lawyer has said.
[Mis à jour le 2 juin 2022 à 17h52] They tore for nearly two months in a Virginia court in the United States, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp are now fixed on the verdict of the jurors. Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, who published a column in the press in 2018 in which she explained that she had been the victim of domestic violence, without ever quoting Johnny Depp in the article, was found guilty of defamation with malicious intent against the actor. Amber Heard was also ordered to pay $10.35 million in damages to Johnny Depp. Heard’s lawyer announced that the actress intends to appeal this decision. The jurors also ruled that the comments made by Johnny Depp’s lawyer in the Daily Mail in 2020 were also defamatory. He claimed that the actress’ accusations were simply “a set-up”. Following this judgment, Johnny Depp must pay 2 million dollars to Amber Heard. In other words, the jury therefore declared that the two actors had been defamed, but it was Johnny Depp who managed to obtain the most damages, although the total sum was much lower than what he was asking for. ($50 million).
The actress, who we saw in Aquaman, expressed her deep disappointment as she left the courtroom. “I have no words to describe the disappointment he feels today. I am heartbroken to see that the mountain of evidence presented was still not enough to deal with power, influence and to the disproportionate hold of my ex-husband.” The defeat of Amber Heard, who had nevertheless won her case against Depp in the United Kingdom, is according to her a marker of a setback in the MeToo movement which seeks to free women’s speech and help them express themselves on the violence they may experience. “I am all the more disappointed in what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It goes back to a time when a woman who spoke out could be disgraced and humiliated publicly. idea that violence against women is a serious problem.”
Amber Heard continues in her reaction to the verdict: “I believe Johnny’s lawyers were successful in getting the jury to overlook the idea of Freedom of Speech and ignore the evidence that was so decisive that we won in the Kingdom. -United”. Amber Heard is referring here to a previous trial on British soil. In 2020, Johnny Depp had filed a complaint for defamation in this vast case of domestic violence against the British tabloid The Sun, which had then counted 14 instances of violence against Amber Heard. At the time, he had lost his case. “The defendants have shown that what they published was essentially true,” explained judge Andrew Nicol in delivering his verdict.
In her message posted on social media on June 1, 2022 following the verdict of her trial in Virginia, Amber Heard says she is “sad to have lost this trial. But I am even sadder than it seems that I have lost a right that I thought I had as an American: to express myself freely and openly.” In an interview with Today, Amber Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, announced that Amber Heard intends to appeal the jury’s verdict. “She has excellent doing it,” she continued. “We demonized her! We allowed things to happen in this court that should not have been allowed and it caused confusion for the jury. We were not allowed to tell them about the British judgment” which had seen The Sun and Amber Heard win against Johnny Depp. The lawyer also specifies that, according to her, the campaign of demonization of Amber Heard and support for Johnny Depp on social networks played a big role in the decision of the jurors. “It’s impossible they weren’t influenced by that. It was horrible. It was really, really one-sided.”
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Amber Heard Short Biography – Amber Heard is an American actress and producer born April 22, 1986 in the city of Austin in the United States. She was raised in Texas with her little sister Whitney in the Catholic religion. She left her studies at the age of 17 to pursue a career as a model first in New York then moved to Los Angeles where she pursued a career as an actress. She first made a name for herself on television and then was welcomed to the cinema. Her most famous role is that of Mera in the movie Aquaman.
It was in the mid-2000s that Amber Heard began her acting career in television appearances. We see her for example in Jack and Bobby or briefly in Newport Beach in 2004. She has already tried her hand at the cinema with Friday Night Lights. She obtained several supporting roles thereafter, including L’Affaire Josey AImes (Niki Caro). Back to television this time with a role that allows her to start making a name for herself: Greta Matthews in the series Hidden Palms on the CW channel in the United States. She obtains the first role in the horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, a feature film which will encounter distribution difficulties.
In 2009, we see her as a zombie in the comedy Welcome to Zombieland. She plays the role of a woman whom Jesse Eisenberg is in love with but she turns into an undead. We see her later in The Ward by John Carpenter but also in Rhum Express where she gives the reply to Johnny Depp then in Machete Kills in 2013.
It was only from the mid-2010s that Amber Heard obtained roles that really made her shine with the general public and internationally. We see her facing Kevin Costner in 3 Days to Kill in 2014 then, the following year, in Magic Mike XXL where she gives the reply to Channing Tatum. She also starred in Tom Hooper’s 2016 Oscar-nominated film Danish Girl. In 2017, she appeared as Mera in Zack Snyder’s film Justice League, adapted from the DC superhero comics. In 2018, she reprized this role in the film Aquaman which collected more than 1.1 billion dollars at the box office worldwide.
Private life
Amber Heard came out openly that she was bisexual in December 2010 at a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation party. She took the opportunity to present her companion at the time, Tasya van Ree, with whom she had shared her life since 2008.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp met in 2012 on the set of the film Rum Express where they shared the poster. From then on, they began dating and then married on February 3, 2015 in a ceremony held in Los Angeles. Their divorce in 2016 turned tragic. On May 21, 2016, Johnny Depp announced his intention to divorce Amber Heard who, on May 24, 2016, accused her of having beaten her and in turn asked for a divorce and sent her a letter through lawyers. Among other things, she is asking for $50,000 in child support a month. Johnny Depp strongly refutes the accusations of domestic violence, following which Amber Heard decides to accuse him publicly. The ex-couple decides on an amicable agreement on August 16, 2016. This consists of Depp paying Heard $ 7 million as part of their divorce. Amber Heard will subsequently announce that this sum will be donated to charities.
At the end of 2018, it was in the Washington Post that Amber Heard wrote an explosive column in which she called for victims of domestic violence to be protected by justice. In this text, she explains that she herself was the victim of this kind of gesture but never mentions the ex-companion who allegedly beat her. However, Johnny Depp filed a complaint and sued her for defamation. In the process, the British tabloid “The Sun” called him “a man beating his wife” and was also sued for defamation. In 2020, Johnny Depp lost the lawsuit against the tabloid.