A ‘staggering’ number of Canadians are glued to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s trial.
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
Whatever it takes to make a no mind like you feel good for the day. Just saying Chief Spreading Bull.
Toronto photographer isn't Amber Heard's sister
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Publishing date:May 25, 2022 • 1 day ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Toronto photographer Whitney Heard is receiving a lot of negative messages because she shares her name with actress Amber Heard's sister.
Toronto photographer Whitney Heard is receiving a lot of negative messages because she shares her name with actress Amber Heard's sister. PHOTO BY REBECCA / WHITNEY HEARD PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM /Handout
Article content
Have you heard?
Toronto photographer Whitney Heard is getting lots of unpleasant Instagram messages, e-mails and phone calls from people who mistakenly think she’s the sister of Amber Heard, the latter currently embroiled in a nasty defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Whitney (Heard) Fernandez recently took the stand in the courtroom battle in her sister’s defence but Toronto’s Heard – who hasn’t been paying attention to the contentious proceedings – has just one message: “Don’t be hatin’ haters.”
“For a very long time I had the same name,” said Heard, the founder of the Queen’s Quay-based Summerset Studio (summersetstudio.ca), down the line from Manarola, in La Spezia, Italy, in between wedding photo shoots.
“I started receiving messages about three weeks ago I guess that were kind of strange and weird and then I realized pretty quickly, that they were related to the trial. Now it’s kind of non-stop. There’s been a few positive messages but most of them are very negative. They’re under the impression that I’m related to Amber but I’m not.”
It actually all started in 2017 back when the response was positive.
“I used to receive fan mail,” said Heard, whose Instagram handle is @WhitneyHeard.
“(People) would be trying to send her fan mail. For quite a while, usually like once a month, I’d have some funny thing happen.”
Both Whitney Heards actually connected on Instagram and were going to get together for a photo shoot as in “Whitney Heard by Whitney Heard,” which never happened.
“We just touched base on the fact that we had the same name and that we just thought that was funny,” said Heard. “And that sometimes I get fan mail and she joked, ‘Well, if I ever get any photography inquiries, I’ll let you know.’”
Heard said she reached out to Amber’s real sister again in light of the trial “but she actually wasn’t getting as much hate mail at the start. I think more people were being directed to my account. And then they’d start to figure it out.”
The one upside is that some people are discovering Heard’s photo business which she started in 2013.
“I did have a couple people reach out and go, ‘Oh, actually I looked you up because I thought you were Amber’s sister and then I realized you weren’t and now I’m just following along because I like your work,’” said Heard.
instagram.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Publishing date:May 25, 2022 • 1 day ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Toronto photographer Whitney Heard is receiving a lot of negative messages because she shares her name with actress Amber Heard's sister.
Toronto photographer Whitney Heard is receiving a lot of negative messages because she shares her name with actress Amber Heard's sister. PHOTO BY REBECCA / WHITNEY HEARD PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM /Handout
Article content
Have you heard?
Toronto photographer Whitney Heard is getting lots of unpleasant Instagram messages, e-mails and phone calls from people who mistakenly think she’s the sister of Amber Heard, the latter currently embroiled in a nasty defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Whitney (Heard) Fernandez recently took the stand in the courtroom battle in her sister’s defence but Toronto’s Heard – who hasn’t been paying attention to the contentious proceedings – has just one message: “Don’t be hatin’ haters.”
“For a very long time I had the same name,” said Heard, the founder of the Queen’s Quay-based Summerset Studio (summersetstudio.ca), down the line from Manarola, in La Spezia, Italy, in between wedding photo shoots.
“I started receiving messages about three weeks ago I guess that were kind of strange and weird and then I realized pretty quickly, that they were related to the trial. Now it’s kind of non-stop. There’s been a few positive messages but most of them are very negative. They’re under the impression that I’m related to Amber but I’m not.”
It actually all started in 2017 back when the response was positive.
“I used to receive fan mail,” said Heard, whose Instagram handle is @WhitneyHeard.
“(People) would be trying to send her fan mail. For quite a while, usually like once a month, I’d have some funny thing happen.”
Both Whitney Heards actually connected on Instagram and were going to get together for a photo shoot as in “Whitney Heard by Whitney Heard,” which never happened.
“We just touched base on the fact that we had the same name and that we just thought that was funny,” said Heard. “And that sometimes I get fan mail and she joked, ‘Well, if I ever get any photography inquiries, I’ll let you know.’”
Heard said she reached out to Amber’s real sister again in light of the trial “but she actually wasn’t getting as much hate mail at the start. I think more people were being directed to my account. And then they’d start to figure it out.”
The one upside is that some people are discovering Heard’s photo business which she started in 2013.
“I did have a couple people reach out and go, ‘Oh, actually I looked you up because I thought you were Amber’s sister and then I realized you weren’t and now I’m just following along because I like your work,’” said Heard.
Whitney Heard (@WhitneyHeard) • Instagram photos and videos
13K Followers, 1,077 Following, 694 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Whitney Heard (@WhitneyHeard)
instagram.com
Welcome - Summerset Studio
summersetstudio.ca
DON'T BE HATING: Toronto photographer isn't Amber Heard's sister
Have you heard? Toronto photographer Whitney Heard is getting lots of unpleasant Instagram messages, e-mails and phone calls.
Lawyer warns Amber Heard she could face jail over perjury claims in her case against Johnny Depp
Author of the article:Bang Showbiz
Bang Showbiz
Publishing date:May 30, 2022 • 14 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Amber Heard is being warned she could face jail over claims she edited injury photos in her blockbuster court feud against Johnny Depp.
Defamation lawyer Aaron Minc said “more and more objective evidence that she is lying about things under oath” could lead to a sentence for the actress.
He spoke out as the jury in the feuding couple’s case is set to resume deliberations on Tuesday after their legal teams finished offering furious closing arguments on Friday at Fairfax Courthouse, Va.
Minc told website JOE “a few days ago” he didn’t think there was any chance Heard, 36, could face prosecution for anything she had said on the stand during her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s defamation trial.
Telling how he changed his mind as the case hurtled towards its conclusion, he said: “I think that, as this case goes on, and we start seeing more and more objective evidence that she is lying about things under oath, that’s when it starts crossing the line into the possibility that she is fabricating evidence, fabricating photos, fabricating bruises, altering evidence and then submitting it.”
Minc warned fabricating evidence is not only “really serious,” but also “really offensive” to the justice system.
He said: “I would hope that prosecutors would take a close look at it because if there is very clear evidence that she did that, that should certainly be considered.
“If it was proven that that was the case, and there’s certainly some questions being raised in the trial currently, that could potentially lead to a criminal prosecution and jail time.”
Heard has been accused by lawyers for Depp, 58, of lying about everything from having to use make-up to cover up bruises allegedly inflicted by the Pirates of the Caribbean actor to failing to give the $7 million from their divorce settlement to good causes.
It comes after Sean Caulfield, partner at law firm Hodge, Jones and Allen, told MailOnline Heard could face a perjury probe in the U.K. as misleading a court “cuts to the core of our justice system.”
Asked if he can see police investigating claims she may have lied under oath about donating her $7 million, he added: “Yes, I think so. While it may not be a central issue to the case, perjury is the single biggest threat and cuts to the core of our justice system, so the police may be invited to investigate to show that any member of the public who lies to the court can be prosecuted for perjury.”
The Depp V Heard defamation trial has gripped public attention and sparked huge debate on the state of gender relations and progress of the MeToo movement.
Seven of 11 impanelled jurors selected for the trial when it started in April spent a couple of hours beginning to deliberate a verdict after the conclusion of closing arguments on Friday but are not expected to return a verdict on whether Heard defamed Depp for another few days.
Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she penned for The Washington Post where she described herself as a “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
The Ed Wood actor claims it falsely implies that he is a domestic abuser – which he vehemently denies – and that it has left him struggling to land roles in Hollywood.
He is suing for $50 million, while Heard is countersuing for $100 million, accusing Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.”
joe.co.uk
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Bang Showbiz
Bang Showbiz
Publishing date:May 30, 2022 • 14 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Amber Heard is being warned she could face jail over claims she edited injury photos in her blockbuster court feud against Johnny Depp.
Defamation lawyer Aaron Minc said “more and more objective evidence that she is lying about things under oath” could lead to a sentence for the actress.
He spoke out as the jury in the feuding couple’s case is set to resume deliberations on Tuesday after their legal teams finished offering furious closing arguments on Friday at Fairfax Courthouse, Va.
Minc told website JOE “a few days ago” he didn’t think there was any chance Heard, 36, could face prosecution for anything she had said on the stand during her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s defamation trial.
Telling how he changed his mind as the case hurtled towards its conclusion, he said: “I think that, as this case goes on, and we start seeing more and more objective evidence that she is lying about things under oath, that’s when it starts crossing the line into the possibility that she is fabricating evidence, fabricating photos, fabricating bruises, altering evidence and then submitting it.”
Minc warned fabricating evidence is not only “really serious,” but also “really offensive” to the justice system.
He said: “I would hope that prosecutors would take a close look at it because if there is very clear evidence that she did that, that should certainly be considered.
“If it was proven that that was the case, and there’s certainly some questions being raised in the trial currently, that could potentially lead to a criminal prosecution and jail time.”
Heard has been accused by lawyers for Depp, 58, of lying about everything from having to use make-up to cover up bruises allegedly inflicted by the Pirates of the Caribbean actor to failing to give the $7 million from their divorce settlement to good causes.
It comes after Sean Caulfield, partner at law firm Hodge, Jones and Allen, told MailOnline Heard could face a perjury probe in the U.K. as misleading a court “cuts to the core of our justice system.”
Asked if he can see police investigating claims she may have lied under oath about donating her $7 million, he added: “Yes, I think so. While it may not be a central issue to the case, perjury is the single biggest threat and cuts to the core of our justice system, so the police may be invited to investigate to show that any member of the public who lies to the court can be prosecuted for perjury.”
The Depp V Heard defamation trial has gripped public attention and sparked huge debate on the state of gender relations and progress of the MeToo movement.
Seven of 11 impanelled jurors selected for the trial when it started in April spent a couple of hours beginning to deliberate a verdict after the conclusion of closing arguments on Friday but are not expected to return a verdict on whether Heard defamed Depp for another few days.
Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she penned for The Washington Post where she described herself as a “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
The Ed Wood actor claims it falsely implies that he is a domestic abuser – which he vehemently denies – and that it has left him struggling to land roles in Hollywood.
He is suing for $50 million, while Heard is countersuing for $100 million, accusing Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.”
Amber Heard could face jail over claims she 'edited injury photos' at Johnny Depp trial, legal expert suggests
Amber Heard could face time in prison because of her alleged injury photos, which an expert said had been put through an editing programme.
Lawyer warns Amber Heard she could face jail over perjury claims in her case against Johnny Depp
Amber Heard is being warned she could face jail over claims she edited injury photos in her blockbuster court feud against Johnny Depp.
Petition to drop Amber Heard from 'Aquaman 2' hits record high
Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Publishing date:Jun 01, 2022 • 17 hours ago • 3 minute read • 20 Comments
A fan-led petition aimed at convincing Warner Bros. to dump Amber Heard from the upcoming Aquaman sequel has reached a record high.
As of Wednesday morning, the petition has racked up 4.43 million signatures — which is just shy of the 4.5 million goal fan Jeanne Larson set for herself when it first launched in 2020.
In her original post, Larson called Heard a “domestic abuser” and urged Warner Bros. to remove the actress from the project.
“Since Heard’s divorce from Johnny Depp, she has systematically crusaded to ruin Depp in Hollywood, repeating multiple accounts of fake incidents in which she had actually abused Johnny Depp, but lied and created false accounts of him being the abuser,” Larson alleged in her scathing petition.
She continued, “Heard recounts fabricated incidents of Johnny Depp hitting her in the face when she had, in fact, punched him.”
The former couple is battling in a Virginia courtroom, with Depp suing his ex after she penned a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, in which she referred to herself as a survivor of domestic abuse. Depp, who is seeking $50 million, claimed the article harmed his career and led to him losing a series of projects, including a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film.
Heard argued that her article was protected under free speech and countersued Depp for $100 million, accusing the actor’s former lawyer Adam Waldman of ruining her career when he called her claims an “abuse hoax.”
During her testimony last month, Heard alleged that the studio was looking to cut her from next year’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and testified that she had to fight to stay in the film.
Heard said she appears in a “very pared down” role as Queen Mera in the sequel. “I was given a script and given a new version of the script that had taken away action between my character and another character … they basically (reduced) my role.”
She also claimed she had been “released” from her contract. “I fought to stay in it, and they kept me in it. I just don’t know how much I’m in, actually, of the final cut.”
However, Walter Hamada, the president of DC Films, told jurors that she was almost axed because she lacked chemistry with the film’s lead, Jason Momoa.
“They didn’t really have a lot of chemistry together,” Hamada said. “The reality is, it’s not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry. It’s sort-of movie magic to put two performances together and with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together, you can fabricate that chemistry. So at the end of the day, if you watch the movie, it looks like they have great chemistry. But I know that over the course of post-production, it took a lot for it to get there.”
Heard has maintained that statements from Waldman affected her compensation on the sequel and harmed her career, with her legal team comparing her future acting prospects to those of Gal Gadot and Zendaya, among other names.
But Hamada told the courtroom that Heard was not the star of Aquaman and that Warner viewed the film as a “buddy movie” between Momoa’s titular hero and King Orm (Patrick Wilson), his brother.
Heard also didn’t get a raise for the sequel because of the company’s policy to hold its talent to pre-negotiated contracts.
Kathryn Arnold, an entertainment industry consultant, revealed that Heard was ultimately allowed to stay in the sequel because Momoa and the film’s director James Wan lobbied on her behalf.
According to film journalist Grace Randolph, Heard has approximately 10 minutes of screen time in the sequel, with Arnold further revealing that Mera appears briefly at the beginning and end of Aquaman 2.
After hearing over six weeks of sordid testimony that exposed the private life of one of Hollywood’s biggest star couples, the seven-person jury is currently deliberating a verdict.
On Tuesday, the group asked Judge Penney Azcarate to answer whether they should consider the entire article or just the headline. The headline said Heard “spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath.”
mdaniell@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Publishing date:Jun 01, 2022 • 17 hours ago • 3 minute read • 20 Comments
A fan-led petition aimed at convincing Warner Bros. to dump Amber Heard from the upcoming Aquaman sequel has reached a record high.
As of Wednesday morning, the petition has racked up 4.43 million signatures — which is just shy of the 4.5 million goal fan Jeanne Larson set for herself when it first launched in 2020.
In her original post, Larson called Heard a “domestic abuser” and urged Warner Bros. to remove the actress from the project.
“Since Heard’s divorce from Johnny Depp, she has systematically crusaded to ruin Depp in Hollywood, repeating multiple accounts of fake incidents in which she had actually abused Johnny Depp, but lied and created false accounts of him being the abuser,” Larson alleged in her scathing petition.
She continued, “Heard recounts fabricated incidents of Johnny Depp hitting her in the face when she had, in fact, punched him.”
The former couple is battling in a Virginia courtroom, with Depp suing his ex after she penned a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, in which she referred to herself as a survivor of domestic abuse. Depp, who is seeking $50 million, claimed the article harmed his career and led to him losing a series of projects, including a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film.
Heard argued that her article was protected under free speech and countersued Depp for $100 million, accusing the actor’s former lawyer Adam Waldman of ruining her career when he called her claims an “abuse hoax.”
During her testimony last month, Heard alleged that the studio was looking to cut her from next year’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and testified that she had to fight to stay in the film.
Heard said she appears in a “very pared down” role as Queen Mera in the sequel. “I was given a script and given a new version of the script that had taken away action between my character and another character … they basically (reduced) my role.”
She also claimed she had been “released” from her contract. “I fought to stay in it, and they kept me in it. I just don’t know how much I’m in, actually, of the final cut.”
However, Walter Hamada, the president of DC Films, told jurors that she was almost axed because she lacked chemistry with the film’s lead, Jason Momoa.
“They didn’t really have a lot of chemistry together,” Hamada said. “The reality is, it’s not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry. It’s sort-of movie magic to put two performances together and with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together, you can fabricate that chemistry. So at the end of the day, if you watch the movie, it looks like they have great chemistry. But I know that over the course of post-production, it took a lot for it to get there.”
Heard has maintained that statements from Waldman affected her compensation on the sequel and harmed her career, with her legal team comparing her future acting prospects to those of Gal Gadot and Zendaya, among other names.
But Hamada told the courtroom that Heard was not the star of Aquaman and that Warner viewed the film as a “buddy movie” between Momoa’s titular hero and King Orm (Patrick Wilson), his brother.
Heard also didn’t get a raise for the sequel because of the company’s policy to hold its talent to pre-negotiated contracts.
Kathryn Arnold, an entertainment industry consultant, revealed that Heard was ultimately allowed to stay in the sequel because Momoa and the film’s director James Wan lobbied on her behalf.
According to film journalist Grace Randolph, Heard has approximately 10 minutes of screen time in the sequel, with Arnold further revealing that Mera appears briefly at the beginning and end of Aquaman 2.
After hearing over six weeks of sordid testimony that exposed the private life of one of Hollywood’s biggest star couples, the seven-person jury is currently deliberating a verdict.
On Tuesday, the group asked Judge Penney Azcarate to answer whether they should consider the entire article or just the headline. The headline said Heard “spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath.”
mdaniell@postmedia.com
Petition to drop Amber Heard from 'Aquaman 2' hits record high
A fan-led petition aimed at convincing Warner Bros. to dump Amber Heard from the upcoming Aquaman sequel has reached a record high.
JUSTICE FOR JOHNNY DEPP: Jury finds Amber Heard guilty of defamation
Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Publishing date:Jun 01, 2022 • 14 hours ago • 5 minute read • 38 Comments
The jury deliberating the duelling defamation claims of Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard reached its verdict Wednesday, ruling in favour of Depp, who claimed Heard defamed him when she referred to herself as a survivor of domestic violence in a 2018 article.
As the verdict was being read, Heard looked down and appeared to be holding back tears.
Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, accusing her of libelling him with a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post in which she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The three-time Oscar nominee claimed her article ruined his career and led to a series of cancelled film projects, including a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean instalment.
Heard hit back with her own $100 million counterclaim after the star’s former lawyer Adam Waldman called her allegations a hoax. Both accused one another of ruining their respective careers.
The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages.
Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit. But the jury also awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages, finding that Waldman defamed her when he claimed that she and her friends staged property damage after an alleged fight.
“So, Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist,” Waldman told the Daily Mail in 2020.
After the jury ruled in his favour, Depp issued a statement to his Instagram page: “Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed. All in the blink of an eye … And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”
He added, “Speaking the truth was something that I owed my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.”
Ahead of the jury’s decision, a spokesperson for Heard issued a statement to the Toronto Sun, taking a swipe at Depp for his absence from the courtroom. “Your presence shows where your priorities are. Johnny Depp plays guitar in the U.K. while Amber Heard waits for a verdict in Virginia. Depp is taking his snickering and lack of seriousness on tour.”
Heard called the ruling heartbreaking in a message to the Sun.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband,” she wrote.
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.
“I believe Johnny’s attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the U.K.
“I’m sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.”
“We are grateful to the jury for their careful deliberation,” Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez said after the verdict was read.
Following the closing arguments on Friday, the seven-person jury weighed the evidence after the U.S. Memorial Day weekend.
Throughout the six-week trial, the former couple aired lurid details from their short-lived marriage. Heard alleged that Depp physically and sexually assaulted her, including in one instance with a bottle. The attacks, she said, left her with cuts and bruises.
During her tearful testimony, Heard painted a picture of an allegedly controlling and abusive Depp, who, as he was known to the world as one of Hollywood’s biggest film stars, was a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde-like “monster” behind closed doors.
While on a 2014 flight from Boston to Los Angeles, Heard alleged that Depp kicked her from behind in a jealous rage over intimate scenes she had filmed with actor James Franco.
“No one did anything. I felt so embarrassed that he could kick me to the ground and no one would do anything about it,” she said sobbing.
Another time, Heard described Depp’s tantrum when he accused her of flirting with someone at the 2014 Met Gala in New York.
“He shoved me down on the sofa and at some point he whacked me in the face. I think that was the first time (where I thought), ‘Is this a broken nose?’ I remember my nose being swollen, discoloured and red.”
When he took the stand, Depp spoke about finding revenge poop in their marital bed and maintained that he never struck Heard. He also claimed that she was the one who abused him, multiple times.
“She has a need for violence. It erupts out of nowhere,” Depp said.
In her closing statements, Vasquez declared Heard’s pattern of behaviour during their relationship as “violent, abusive and cruel” and called her testimony “the role of a lifetime.”
Recounting Heard’s violent allegations, including one in which she said Depp assaulted her with a bottle that left her bleeding, Vasquez carefully outlined how the actress was photographed at various public events, including an appearance on James Corden’s late-night show, with no visible signs of injury and no medical report that documented bodily trauma of any kind.
“As an actress, she was photographed all the time. Where are the pictures of the horrific injuries Heard describes?” asked Vasquez.
Meanwhile, Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn presented his closing arguments by saying that Depp’s graphic text messages, in which he wrote about wanting to “f— her burnt corpse” and his hopes that she was “decomposing in the f—ing trunk of a Honda Civic,” opened “a window into the heart and mind of America’s favourite pirate.”
The question of how Depp will recover $15 million from Heard remains a mystery. Heard spoke about losing her gig as a L’Oreal spokesperson and revealed she only made $65,000 for an independent movie she filmed in March of this year.
mdaniell@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Publishing date:Jun 01, 2022 • 14 hours ago • 5 minute read • 38 Comments
The jury deliberating the duelling defamation claims of Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard reached its verdict Wednesday, ruling in favour of Depp, who claimed Heard defamed him when she referred to herself as a survivor of domestic violence in a 2018 article.
As the verdict was being read, Heard looked down and appeared to be holding back tears.
Depp, 58, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million, accusing her of libelling him with a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post in which she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The three-time Oscar nominee claimed her article ruined his career and led to a series of cancelled film projects, including a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean instalment.
Heard hit back with her own $100 million counterclaim after the star’s former lawyer Adam Waldman called her allegations a hoax. Both accused one another of ruining their respective careers.
The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages.
Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit. But the jury also awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages, finding that Waldman defamed her when he claimed that she and her friends staged property damage after an alleged fight.
“So, Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist,” Waldman told the Daily Mail in 2020.
After the jury ruled in his favour, Depp issued a statement to his Instagram page: “Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed. All in the blink of an eye … And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”
He added, “Speaking the truth was something that I owed my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.”
Ahead of the jury’s decision, a spokesperson for Heard issued a statement to the Toronto Sun, taking a swipe at Depp for his absence from the courtroom. “Your presence shows where your priorities are. Johnny Depp plays guitar in the U.K. while Amber Heard waits for a verdict in Virginia. Depp is taking his snickering and lack of seriousness on tour.”
Heard called the ruling heartbreaking in a message to the Sun.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband,” she wrote.
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.
“I believe Johnny’s attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the U.K.
“I’m sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.”
“We are grateful to the jury for their careful deliberation,” Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez said after the verdict was read.
Following the closing arguments on Friday, the seven-person jury weighed the evidence after the U.S. Memorial Day weekend.
Throughout the six-week trial, the former couple aired lurid details from their short-lived marriage. Heard alleged that Depp physically and sexually assaulted her, including in one instance with a bottle. The attacks, she said, left her with cuts and bruises.
During her tearful testimony, Heard painted a picture of an allegedly controlling and abusive Depp, who, as he was known to the world as one of Hollywood’s biggest film stars, was a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde-like “monster” behind closed doors.
While on a 2014 flight from Boston to Los Angeles, Heard alleged that Depp kicked her from behind in a jealous rage over intimate scenes she had filmed with actor James Franco.
“No one did anything. I felt so embarrassed that he could kick me to the ground and no one would do anything about it,” she said sobbing.
Another time, Heard described Depp’s tantrum when he accused her of flirting with someone at the 2014 Met Gala in New York.
“He shoved me down on the sofa and at some point he whacked me in the face. I think that was the first time (where I thought), ‘Is this a broken nose?’ I remember my nose being swollen, discoloured and red.”
When he took the stand, Depp spoke about finding revenge poop in their marital bed and maintained that he never struck Heard. He also claimed that she was the one who abused him, multiple times.
“She has a need for violence. It erupts out of nowhere,” Depp said.
In her closing statements, Vasquez declared Heard’s pattern of behaviour during their relationship as “violent, abusive and cruel” and called her testimony “the role of a lifetime.”
Recounting Heard’s violent allegations, including one in which she said Depp assaulted her with a bottle that left her bleeding, Vasquez carefully outlined how the actress was photographed at various public events, including an appearance on James Corden’s late-night show, with no visible signs of injury and no medical report that documented bodily trauma of any kind.
“As an actress, she was photographed all the time. Where are the pictures of the horrific injuries Heard describes?” asked Vasquez.
Meanwhile, Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn presented his closing arguments by saying that Depp’s graphic text messages, in which he wrote about wanting to “f— her burnt corpse” and his hopes that she was “decomposing in the f—ing trunk of a Honda Civic,” opened “a window into the heart and mind of America’s favourite pirate.”
The question of how Depp will recover $15 million from Heard remains a mystery. Heard spoke about losing her gig as a L’Oreal spokesperson and revealed she only made $65,000 for an independent movie she filmed in March of this year.
mdaniell@postmedia.com
JUSTICE FOR JOHNNY DEPP: Jury finds Amber Heard guilty of defamation
The jury deliberating the duelling defamation claims of Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard reached its verdict Wednesday.
She's a Freak
NSFW
celebjihad.com
Every guys dream a 3 hole wonder..
NSFW
Amber Heard Nude Photos & Naked Sex Videos
celebjihad.com
Every guys dream a 3 hole wonder..
Watch TMZ Presents Johnny Vs. Amber: From Love to Hate: Season , Episode , "TMZ Presents Johnny Vs. Amber: From Love to Hate" Online - Fox Nation
TMZ Presents Johnny Vs. Amber: From Love to Hate - TMZ Presents Johnny Vs. Amber: From Love to Hate: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's relationship went from white-hot love to red-hot anger. The documentary highlights the most gripping moments of the trial and their relationship with interviews and...
fox.com