Amber Heard's Small Win Against Johnny Depp In Jury Verdict

Amber Heard has been awarded $2 million ($AUD 2.7 million, £1.6 million) in her countersuit against her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Despite being awarded $2 million in compensatory damages, she was awarded no money in punitive damages.

In the countersuit, the jury found that Heard was defamed on one occasion through Depp's lawyer.

The jury cleared Depp on the other two claims made by Heard.

The Aquaman star looked downcast in the courtroom as the jury read out their verdict, voting unanimously in favour of her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Depp was awarded $15 million ($AUD 20 million, £12 million) in damages after the jury found what Amber Heard wrote in her op-ed piece for The Washington Post was defamatory.

Heard has since released a statement following the verdict.

It read: "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.

"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 UK.

"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."

Heard was in attendance at the court in Virginia as the verdict was read out, while Depp was said to be watching from the UK, having flown over to perform at concerts with Jeff Beck in Sheffield and London.

Depp, 58, sued ex-wife Heard, 36, for $50 million ($AUD 69.6 million, £38.2 million) in a defamation lawsuit over domestic abuse claims she made in a 2018 article in The Washington Post, and she issued a counterclaim for $100m ($AUD 139 million, £76.4 million).

The article did not mention Depp by name, yet his lawyers argued it falsely implied he physically and sexually abused the Aquaman actor while they were together.

The verdict comes following six weeks of evidence at Virginia's Fairfax County Circuit Court, which included testimony from both Depp and Heard, as well as supermodel Kate Moss.

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