Johnny Depp

A judge has rejected Amber Heard’s motion for a new trial, ruling that a mix-up between a 52-year-old man and his 77-year-old father did not constitute jury fraud. The jury awarded Johnny Depp $10.35 million in his defamation lawsuit, and Heard has not yet filed an appeal, possibly because Judge Penny Azcarate ordered her to pay an $8.3 million bond before any appeal could go forward. Instead, she’s focused her legal efforts on this father and son. While the identities of the two men have been redacted, they live together, and publicly available information suggests that they also share a name, although it’s unknown if one is a “Jr.” or “II.” But the 77-year-old was summoned for jury duty, and instead the 52-year-old showed up, ultimately getting enrolled on the jury. Heard’s leg...

Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez, two of the lawyers who represented Johnny Depp in his recent highly-publicized trial, say “social media played no role whatsoever” in the jury’s decision to find Amber Heard guilty of defamation against her ex-husband. The attorneys appeared on both Good Morning America and The Today Show Wednesday morning to discuss the trial, which ended last week with both Depp and Heard receiving compensatory damages — though Depp’s sum was over $8 million more than Heard’s. “Social media played no role whatsoever [in the jury’s verdict],” Chew told GMA’s George Stephanopoulos. “This was a decision made by the jury on the evidence presented by both sides, and as Camille said [earlier in the interview], it was overwhelmingly in Mr. Depp’s favor.” Depp and Heard’s ...

While the trial for Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard seemed to completely consume the American pop culture conversation during its six-week proceedings, the case was not compelling enough to hold the attention of the actual jurors deliberating it. In an interview with Law & Crime Network, which livestreamed the entire trial, the court-appointed stenographer Judy Bellinger revealed what the multi-camera set-up evidently did not capture: “There were a few jurors dozing off… It was tough,” she said. “There was a lot of video deposition and they’d just sit there and all of a sudden I’d see their heads drop.” Bellinger began by her sharing her perspective on the jury selection process before acknowledging potential, arguably more deserving, a...

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have both issued statements in reaction to the verdict in their dueling defamation cases. After six grueling weeks of testimony, cross-examination, and scandalous allegations levied by both sides, a jury found Heard guilty of defamation against her ex-husband, Depp. “False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career. And six year later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled,” Depp said in a statement reacting to the jury’s decision. “My decision to pursue this case, knowing very well the heig...

The verdict is in. After six grueling weeks of testimony, cross-examination, and scandalous allegations levied by both sides, a jury has found Amber Heard guilty of defamation against ex-husband Johnny Depp. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and an additional $5 million in punitive damages. But in the state of Virginia where the trial was held, punitive damages are capped at $350,000, and after the jury’s ruling was read out, Judge Penney Azcarate lowered the punitive damages to match. Depp’s total award is then $10.35 million. He had sought $50 million. The jury also weighed in on Heard’s $100 million countersuit, elements of which were awarded in her favor. The jury granted Heard $2 million total, all for compensatory damages, with no punitive damages assessed. Ad...