Johnny Depp emerged the winner in his three counts of defamation against Amber Heard and was awarded $15 million, the Jury announced on Wednesday.
The seven-panel jury also decided that Depp, through his lawyer, Adam Waldman defamed Heard on one of three counts in her countersuit; she was awarded $2 million.
The unanimous decision was delivered on the third day of deliberation, bringing an end to the trial after 6 weeks of emotional testimony recounting Depp and Heard’s relationship and its fallouts.
What did Adam Waldman say?
The ruling in Depp’s favour did not stop the jury from also deciding that in one particular instance (also out of three), one of Depp’s lawyers, Adam Waldman defamed Heard.
The statement at issue was made by Waldman to Daily Mail, “Quite simply this was an ambush, a hoax”, he said.
They set Mr Depp up by calling the cops but the first attempt didn’t do the trick. The officers came to the penthouses, thoroughly searched and interviewed, and left after seeing no damage to face or property. So Amber and her friends spilt a little win and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist, and then placed a second call to 911″.
The Jury ruled that Heard had been defamed by that statement.