“The jury brought me back to life,” said Johnny Depp.
The actor has indeed won the lawsuit for defamation which opposed him to Amber Heard, on Wednesday, June 1.
The latter was ordered to pay 15 million dollars (14 million euros) in damages to her ex-husband.
After thirteen hours of deliberations that began on May 27, the jurors thus found that the actress had made false statements by describing herself as a “victim of domestic violence” in a column in the
Washington Post
, published in 2018, and that she had acted "with malicious intent".
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However, they ruled that Johnny Depp had also defamed Amber Heard, allocating $ 2 million in financial compensation to the actress.
According to them, the actor's lawyer, Adam Waldman, made defamatory remarks by calling Amber Heard's sexual abuse allegations a "set-up" in the
Daily Mail
in 2020. The two actors have since reacted publicly to this verdict.
Johnny Depp expressed his relief after this victory.
“The jury brought me back to life”
“Six years ago, my life, that of my children and those of my loved ones, who have supported me for many years and believed in me, were changed forever, wrote in an Instagram post the one who recently affirmed, in front of the court, having already “lost” everything.
All this in the blink of an eye.”
The comedian also described the accusations made against him by the media as “false, very serious and criminal”.
"They had already circulated all over the world, in a nanosecond, and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career," he said.
Johnny Depp also expressed his gratitude to the jury.
"And six years later, the jury brought me back to life," he wrote.
I am truly touched.”
The actor also explained that he had measured the risks involved before continuing this legal battle.
“From the start, my objective, in breaking up this affair, was to reveal the truth, whatever the outcome of the trial, supported the ex-companion of Vanessa Paradis.
Telling the truth was something I owed to my children and all those who remained of constant support to me.
I feel at peace to have finally accomplished this.”
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"The best is yet to come"
The hero of the
Pirates of the Caribbean
saga (2003) revealed himself to be “overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, colossal support and kindness” from his fans around the world.
“I hope that my quest to bring the truth to light has helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in the same situation, and that those who support them will never give up,” he said.
I also hope that we will once again respect the principle of "innocent until proven guilty", in court and in the media."
The 50-year-old particularly praised the “noble work of the judge, the jurors, the court employees and the police”, who “sacrificed their own time to get there”, and thanked his team of lawyers “assiduous and flawless. ".
Before concluding: “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun.
Truth never fails."
A post “liked” by more than 14 million people.
"I am devastated"
For her part, Amber Heard said she was “devastated” by the verdict against her.
"I am devastated that the mountain of evidence has not been sufficient to address the far greater power, influence and ascendancy of my ex-husband," she lamented in a statement. Instagram post.
I am even more disappointed by what this verdict means for other women.
It's a setback.
It throws us back, taking us back to a time when, when a woman spoke, she could be humiliated in public.
It challenges the idea that violence against women should be taken seriously.”
And the heroine of
Aquaman
(2018) to add: "I think that Johnny's lawyers managed to make the jurors forget the key notion of freedom of expression and led them to ignore such conclusive evidence that we had won the lawsuit in the United Kingdom (
the one that Johnny Depp had brought against the publisher of the
Sun
in 2018, when the tabloid had called him an "abusive husband", Editor's note
).
The actress also expressed the "sadness" caused by her defeat.
“But I am all the more saddened that I seem to have lost a right that I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.”
His publication was "liked" by more than 258,000 people.