Amber Heard's lawyer has revealed one of the first things the actor said following the verdict of her trial with Johnny Depp.
The 36-year-old was taken to court over an article she wrote in 2018, in which she claimed that she was a survivor of domestic abuse.
Despite the article not naming Depp, he argued that it was defamatory and had a massively negative impact on his career.
As a result, he sued his ex-wife for $50 million, while she made a counterclaim against him of $100m.
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Following weeks of testimony and cross-examination, the trial came to an end yesterday (1June), with the jury unanimously finding in favour of the Pirates of The Caribbean star, awarding him a total of $15m in damages - later reduced to $10.4m by the judge.
However, though she lost on the majority of her claims, the jury also awarded Heard $2m.
Speaking after the result, Elaine Bredehoft told The Today Show that her client was more worried about the precedent this case would set rather than the financial loss.
She told the programme: "One of the first things she said is, 'I am so sorry to all those women out there. This is a setback for all women in and outside the courtroom'.
"She feels the burden of that."
In an interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, Ms Bredehoft said she couldn't believe the verdict and warned that it could have bigger a impact further down the road.
She said: "It’s a significant setback, because that’s exactly what it means. Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively you won’t be believed."
She went on: "Really what happened here is it’s a tale of two trials. Johnny Depp brought a suit in the UK for the same case,” she said in reference to Mr Depp’s 2020 UK libel case against The Sun, which had labeled him a 'wife beater' over Ms Heard’s allegations.
"The burden of proof was easier for him there, The Sun had to actually prove that it was true. And the court found there - and we weren’t allowed to tell the jury this - but the court found that Mr Depp had committed at least 12 acts of domestic violence, including sexual violence against Amber.
"So what did Depp’s team learn from this? Demonise Amber and suppress the evidence.
"We had an enormous amount of evidence that was suppressed in this case that was in the UK case. In the UK case when it came in, Amber won and Mr Depp lost."
While Heard was in the Virginia courthouse for the verdict yesterday, Depp was in the UK, where he is currently on tour rock legend Jeff Beck.
And staff at a pub in Newcastle revealed that the actor was enjoying a pint and some fish and chips with Sam Fender when he heard the news.
According to trainee assistant manager Naomi Holliday, Depp drank a bottle of the city's famous Newcastle Brown Ale before sinking a pint of Guinness.
She said: "I was on the day shift and it had been a normal day and he just waltzed in. He walked through the front door and sat on the table in the corner and had some scran.
"He was drinking Brown Ale and had some food. He was really sweet and told us he'd never been to Newcastle before. He ordered fish and chips with his Brown Ale and he had a Guinness after that as well."
Topics: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, US News, Music
Dominic Smithers