Jury members in Johnny Depp’s defamation case against Amber Heard have ruled in favor of the actor’s claims.
After weeks of testimony from the pair as well as outside witnesses, Depp, 58, won all three counts of his bombshell defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, 36, on Wednesday after a Virginia jury substantiated the claim that his ex-wife sullied his reputation and damaged his career when she wrote in the Washington Post in 2018 about becoming a “public figure representing domestic abuse” following the couple’s split in 2016.
In November 2020, a London judge sided against Depp in his libel suit against the Sun after the outlet published a story in 2018 calling him a “wife beater.”
Depp later filed suit against Heard individually, with allegations of defamation stemming from her WaPo essay, which she wrote in partnership with the ACLU. Subsequently, Heard countersued Depp with similar claims — including that Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman defamed her when he told the Daily Mail that she set up her ex-husband with false domestic abuse claims when the police came to their apartment in May 2016.
Heard was awarded $2 million in damages for Waldman’s remarks. She was ordered to pay $15 million.
As the verdict was read on Wednesday, celebs took to social media to express their thoughts on the outcome of the trial.
Who’s supporting Johnny Depp:
Donald Trump Jr. wrote, “Believe all women … except Amber Heard. $15,000,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to Depp, and perhaps a case that could end the effective rabid femminist [sic] notion that all men are guilty before being proven innocent that we’ve seen as of late. She’s just that terrible!”
Valerie Bertinelli tweeted “Elon and his bots will be very busy today #JusticeForJohnnyDepp” after the verdict was read.
She then followed up: “I REALLY shouldn’t be wading into this but multiple accounts that I follow & respect (lawyers, journalists) don’t like this verdict, so it gives me great pause. But I’m confused because we saw her caught in multiple lies on the stand. Honest question, what am I missing?”
Reality TV personality, singer and alleged onetime Trump Jr. mistress Aubrey O’Day tweeted, “there ya go … when the dust settles, JD 15m (the punitive damages will be capped), Amber 2m. Lesson learned … keep your ex’s name out yo mouth!”
Musician Ryan Adams commented on Depp’s statement on Instagram, contributing celebratory emojis of a red heart, praise hands and fire.
Ashley Benson also commented on the statement with several praise hand and red heart emojis, and posted her own personal update on Instagram — depicting a recent image of Depp captioned “YESSSS,” alongside four black heart emojis.
Victoria Brynner, daughter of Yul, added heart emojis on Depp’s statement via Instagram, and shared her own post featuring a photo of Depp and the comment: “TRUTH !”
Former host of “The View” Sharon Osbourne made herself available for comment on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show, saying, “Wow, it wasn’t what I was expecting. I mean, I wanted Johnny to win but I didn’t expect him to.”
Who’s supporting Amber Heard:
Meanwhile, Amy Schumer shared a cryptic Gloria Steinem quote on Instagram: “Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke … She will need her sisterhood.”
Who’s supporting neither:
But many seem happy to see the highly publicized trial end.
“Someone won!!!!” former talk show host Ricki Lake commented. During the trial, she tweeted how she “absolutely adored” working with Depp in “Cry-Baby,” describing the actor as “soft-spoken” and “gentle.”
“I need a timeline cleanse,” tweeted “Bill & Ted” star Alex Winter minutes after the verdict was read. He later added, “As goes the internet goes the world, and today it’s dripping with gleeful, misogynistic contempt.”