By Daniel Arkin
Amber Heard reacted to the jury's decision on Wednesday in favor of her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in the defamation lawsuit against him, assuring that she was deeply disappointed and "heartbroken".
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words.
I am heartbroken that a mountain of evidence was not enough to stand up to my ex-husband's disproportionate power and influence," Heard said in a statement released minutes after the verdict was read in Virginia's Fairfax County Circuit Court.
“I am even more disappointed in what this verdict means for other women
,” Heard said.
“It is a setback.
A throwback to a time when a woman who spoke out and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.
A throwback to the idea that violence against women should be taken seriously,” she added.
Amber Heard leaves the Circuit Court in Fairfax County, Virginia, following the libel trial against her, on June 1, 2022. TOM BRENNER / REUTERS
The seven-person jury awarded Depp about $15 million in damages in his lawsuit against Heard.
The jury awarded her $2 million in damages for defamation against her.
Heard was stoic when the verdict was announced.
The trial was based on a 2018 opinion piece Heard wrote in The Washington Post, in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse."
Heard did not identify Depp by her name in the essay.
[Why Amber Heard and Johnny Depp Trial Memes Are a “Slap in the Face” of Domestic Violence]
In the defamation lawsuit, Depp demanded 50 million dollars from Heard for the alleged damages he caused.
Heard countersued him for $100 million, claiming that Depp defamed her when one of her lawyers called her abuse allegations a "hoax."
“I am sad because I lost this case
,” Heard said at the end of her statement.
“But I am even sadder because it seems that I have lost a right that I thought I had as an American: to speak freely and openly.”
This is an account of the controversial trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
May 31, 202204:46
For his part, Depp said the jury had given him his life back and that he felt
"
truly honored."
“False, very serious and criminal accusations were made against me through the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me,” he stated.
[Was it a “mutual abuse” that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard suffered? Many experts doubt it]
"My decision to pursue this case, knowing full well the height of the legal hurdles I was facing and the inevitable world spectacle it would bring into my life, was only made after careful consideration," the actor said.
“From the beginning,
the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome
.
Telling the truth was something I owed to my children and to all those who have stood by me.
I feel at peace knowing that I have finally made it,” he added.
Depp concluded his statement with the Latin expression
Veritas numquam perit,
or "The truth never perishes."