⚖️ Johnny Depp v Amber Heard: $10.35M Virginia award, UK libel loss
A London judge found 12 of 14 alleged assaults proved. A Virginia jury sided mostly with Depp. Heard says settling was no concession.
By Mr Scandal, editor at large · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 4 min read
DECIDEDPhoto: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America · CC BY-SA 2.0What we know
- On Nov. 2, 2020, Mr Justice Nicol dismissed Johnny Depp's libel claim against the Sun's publisher, ruling its "wife beater" article "substantially true" and finding 12 of 14 alleged incidents occurred, per BBC News. Depp denies the allegations; his lawyer called the ruling "perverse".
- The Court of Appeal refused Depp permission to appeal on March 25, 2021, saying the appeal had "no real prospect of success", per BBC News.
- On June 1, 2022, a Virginia jury found Heard defamed Depp with her 2018 Washington Post op-ed. It awarded $10M compensatory and $5M punitive damages; the judge cut the punitive sum to the $350,000 state cap, making $10.35M, per NPR.
- The same jury awarded Heard $2M after finding one statement by Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman defamed her, per Courthouse News Service.
- In December 2022 the sides settled and dropped their appeals. Depp's lawyers said he would receive $1M; Heard said she "made no admission", per NPR.
Same former couple, same abuse allegations, two courts, two answers. In London, Mr Justice Nicol ruled on Nov. 2, 2020 that the Sun's "wife beater" label for Johnny Depp was "substantially true", BBC News reported. In a Virginia state trial court on June 1, 2022, a jury found that Amber Heard defamed Depp, and he was awarded $10.35 million after a cap on punitive damages, NPR reported.
Depp denies abusing Heard. After the London ruling his lawyer Jenny Afia called it "as perverse as it is bewildering", the Guardian reported. After the Virginia verdict Heard said in a statement she was "heartbroken" and that the jury had ignored evidence in her favor, per BBC News. Mr Scandal's job is not to pick a winner. It is to line up the two sets of receipts.
Side by side
| London High Court, 2020 | Virginia jury, 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Who decided | One judge, Mr Justice Nicol (Reuters) | Seven jurors, Judge Penney Azcarate presiding (Courthouse News) |
| Who sued whom | Depp sued News Group Newspapers, the Sun's publisher. Heard was a witness, not a party, and the judge said that was right (Reuters) | Depp sued Heard over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed. Heard counter-sued for $100 million (BBC News) |
| The question | Was the Sun's article substantially true? Truth is a complete defense under UK law (Reuters) | Were Heard's op-ed statements false and made with actual malice? Did Depp's lawyer defame Heard? (BBC News, Courthouse News) |
| Outcome | Claim dismissed. 12 of 14 alleged incidents found to have occurred (BBC News) | Jury found Heard defamed Depp. It found one statement by Depp's lawyer defamed Heard (Courthouse News) |
| Money | Depp ordered to make an initial payment of almost £630,000 toward the publisher's legal fees (BBC News) | $10.35M to Depp, $2M to Heard (NPR) |
| Appeal | Permission refused March 25, 2021: "no real prospect of success" (BBC News) | Heard's bid for a new trial was denied July 13, 2022 (Courthouse News). Both appeals were to be dropped after the Dec. 2022 settlement (Brown Rudnick) |
"I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard."
Mr Justice Nicol, High Court ruling of Nov. 2, 2020, quoted by Reuters
The money, line by line
The headline number needs one footnote. The jury's award to Depp was $15 million on paper, but Virginia law limits punitive damages to $350,000, so the judge cut that part, Courthouse News reported. NPR put the resulting total at $10.35 million; BBC News rounded it to $10.4 million.
By the numbers
- 19 mofrom first to latest entry on record
- 15receipts behind this story
| Step | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Depp's claim | $50 million | Sought over the Washington Post op-ed (Courthouse News) |
| Heard's counterclaim | $100 million | Over statements by Depp's lawyer (Courthouse News) |
| Jury to Depp, compensatory | $10 million | (NPR) |
| Jury to Depp, punitive | $5 million | Before the cap (NPR) |
| Punitive after cap | $350,000 | Virginia statutory maximum (Courthouse News) |
| Depp's total | $10.35 million | (NPR) |
| Jury to Heard | $2 million | Compensatory, no punitive, on one counterclaim statement (Courthouse News) |
| Interest | 6% a year | Set by the judge on both amounts (Courthouse News) |
| Settlement | $1 million | Depp's lawyers said it goes to Depp, who pledged to donate it to charity (NPR). Brown Rudnick said Heard's insurer pays |
Why the answers differed
Media lawyer Mark Stephens told the BBC the main factor was that the US trial had a jury and the UK trial had only a judge. He said Depp's lawyers could focus on Heard's credibility in front of a jury, a tactic he said the UK judge recognized and set aside. Persephone Bridgman Baker of the law firm Carter-Ruck told the Guardian there was more evidence on Heard's credibility in the US proceedings, and that the jury may simply have believed Depp.
The questions were also different. London tested whether a newspaper's words were substantially true, with Heard as a witness. Virginia tested Heard's own words, and the BBC noted the trial was televised and livestreamed. The BBC reported that the hashtag #justiceforjohnnydepp drew about 19 billion TikTok views, while jurors were told not to read about the case online.
How it ended
On Dec. 19, 2022, Heard said on Instagram that she was settling "having lost faith in the American legal system", NPR reported. Depp's lawyers Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez said the settlement involved a $1 million payment to Depp, and that the jury's judgment in his favor "remain[s] fully in place".
"This is not an act of concession."
Amber Heard, Instagram post of Dec. 19, 2022, quoted by NPR
Brown Rudnick, the law firm that negotiated for Depp, said Heard's insurer will pay the $1 million and that the deal bars both sides from filing another lawsuit in the case. Depp's side says the money will go to charities. Two courts, one marriage, and a ledger that still does not balance in public opinion.
Quick quiz · 3 questions
Earlier on file: Biggest celebrity lawsuits ranked: Apple's $1B Samsung win leads
The Johnny Depp file
- Ruled
Virginia jury awarded Depp $10.3 million in total after punitive damages were cut to $350,000; Heard awarded $2 million. Biggest celebrity lawsuits ranked: Apple's $1B Samsung win leads
- Ruled
Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal the libel ruling: "no real prospect of success", per BBC News. This story
- Ruled
Judge ordered an initial payment of almost £630,000 toward News Group Newspapers' legal fees, per BBC News. This story
- Ruled
High Court judge found 12 of 14 alleged incidents of assault on Heard proved to the civil standard; Depp denies them. This story
On file: The Johnny Depp file · The Amber Heard file · The News Group Newspapers file
The Ledger
On the record
- A London judge dismissed Depp's libel claim and found 12 of 14 alleged incidents proved; a Virginia jury found for Depp on Heard's op-ed ($10.35M after the cap) and for Heard on one statement ($2M); the sides settled for $1M.
Still rumour
- Who ultimately funded the $1M: Brown Rudnick says Heard's insurer, while Depp's lawyers' statement frames it as Heard's payment.
- Settlement terms beyond the bar on new lawsuits and the dropped appeals are not confirmed in the documents read.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - Mr Scandal
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