Johnny Depp’s lawyer claimed his client won the high-profile defamation trial because he “owned his issues,” in contrast to his ex-wife, Amber Heard who the jury may have believed didn’t accept responsibility for her acts.
Wednesday on NBC‘s “TODAY” show, attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez were challenged about the jury’s lack of faith in Heard’s testimony. According to Chew, “my feeling is that it had a lot to do with accountability.”
“Johnny owned his issues. He was very candid about his alcohol and drug issues. He was candid about some unfortunate texts that he wrote,” Chew added. “I think it was sharp contrast to Ms. Heard, who didn’t seem, or at least the jury may have perceived that she didn’t take accountability for anything.“
When the verdict was read out, Vasquez felt “an overwhelming sense of relief” as he put it. “I was speaking with a mutual friend of Johnny and ours and he said, ‘I haven’t seen Johnny smile like that in six years,’ ” she said.
“The weight of the world is off of his shoulders. He’s got his life back,” Chew said. The blockbuster trial between the Hollywood heavyweights exposed their once-private lives to public scrutiny for six weeks, dominated headlines, and made a stir on social media sites like Tik Tok and Twitter.
Andy Vermaut shares:Johnny Depp Is No Longer Dating His Attorney!: It looks like Johnny Depp’s relationship with his attorney has fizzled out! According to People on… https://t.co/f4rFROjF0W Thank you. #LifeIsKnowing #AndyVermautLovesPerezHilTonTalks #NewlyCuriousBeingIsNice pic.twitter.com/7xZv0gKats
— Andy Vermaut (@AndyVermaut) November 4, 2022
On June 1, a jury ruled in Depp’s favor, saying that Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse hurt his reputation and business.
She wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she called herself a “public figure representing domestic abuse” and Depp filed a $50 million lawsuit against Heard as a result. In spite of the fact that Depp was never addressed by name, his counsel has claimed that the article is a reference to the charges she made against him during their divorce in 2016.
For $100 million, Heard filed a countersuit against Depp. The countersuit relied on three statements made by Adam Waldman, Depp’s former attorney, to the Daily Mail in 2020, in which he called Heard’s allegations of abuse a “hoax.”
Final Words
Johnny Depp was awarded $15 million in total by the jury; $5 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory damages. His total damages were lowered from $10.4 million to $350,000 due to the state’s statutory restriction or legal limit on punitive damages.
After hearing Heard’s counterclaim, the jury awarded her $2 million in compensatory damages but declined to impose any punitive penalties.
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