Johnny Depp trial - live: Jury begins deliberation in Amber Heard defamation case
Closing arguments have concluded in Amber Heard’s defamation trial in the case brought against her by ex-husband Johnny Depp. The jury is now deliberating on the six weeks of testimony but has been sent home for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Heard is being sued by Depp for $50m for implying he abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. Although she didn’t name him, he claims her allegations impacted his ability to work. She is pursuing a counterclaim of $100m.
In Depp’s closing argument, his lawyers asked jurors to “give him his life back” after he claims it was “ruined” by Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse. They alleged Heard would rather be in a fight than let the actor leave, called her claims an act of profound cruelty to true survivors, and said that she gave the performance of her life on the stand.
Heard lawyer said a ruling in favour of Depp would make jurors an “accomplice” to his abuse and to his “campaign of global humiliation”, and called out the actor for “laughing” and “snide comments” during closing, adding he engaged in “victim-blaming at its most disgusting”.
Key points
Depp asks jurors to ‘give him his life back’ after it was ‘ruined’ by Heard in closing argument
Heard would ‘rather be in a fight than let Johnny Depp leave’, jury hears
Depp lawyer calls Heard’s domestic abuse claims ‘an act of profound cruelty to true survivors’
Heard lawyer says ruling in favour of Depp would make jurors an ‘accomplice’ to his abuse
Depp’s lawyer accuses Heard of fake crying in ‘performance of her life’ on witness stand
Heard lawyer calls out Depp for ‘laughing’ and ‘snide comments’ during closing argument
How Depp and Heard each made their case for being a victim, not a perpetrator, of abuse
Depp claims he called Warner Bros about Heard’s Aquaman role to ‘curb their worries’
07:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Testifying on Wednesday, Depp disputed Heard’s claims that he did not assist in helping her land her Aquaman role.
Asked by his legal team whether he recalls Heard testifying that he “did not assist her in getting her role in Aquaman”, Depp replied: “It’s not exactly true.”
The Independent’s Annabel Nugent reports:
Johnny Depp says he called Warner Bros about Amber Heard’s role in Aquaman
Heard’s team accuses Depp of trying to get her fired from Aquaman
04:59 , Oliver O'Connell
Johnny Depp has been accused of trying to get Amber Heard fired from the Aquaman franchise.
The actor returned to the witness stand on Wednesday (25 May) to give more testimony in his multi-million dollar defamation trial against ex-wife Heard. He was called back for his own team’s rebuttal.
During his testimony, Depp was challenged as to whether he attempted to get Heard fired from the Warner Brothers superhero movie.
Read more:
Johnny Depp accused of trying to get Amber Heard fired as texts are shown in court
What happens next and what are the possible verdicts?
01:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Divorced Hollywood actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have reached the close of their acrimonious defamation trial in Virginia, which has created headlines across the world over six weeks and seen fans closely following proceedings on TikTok and Instagram and treating the case like a spectator sport, micro-analysing the evidence and cheering on their preferred side.
What happens next?
What happens next in the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation trial?
Heard spars with Johnny Depp attorney when grilled about Kate Moss
Sunday 29 May 2022 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Amber Heard sparred with one of Johnny Depp’s attorneys as she was grilled about Kate Moss and other witnesses supporting him.
Ms Heard returned to the stand as the last witness for her rebuttal on Thursday and spoke of the toll the trial has taken on her as she was “harassed, humiliated and threatened” on a daily basis by Mr Depp’s fans.
She then faced an intense cross-examination from Mr Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez, who began cross-examination by asserting that the trial has been hard because her “lies have been exposed to the world multiple times, right?”
Read more:
Heard spars with Depp attorney when grilled about Kate Moss and others supporting him
Heard begs Johnny Depp ‘leave me alone’ claiming daily death threats over trial
Sunday 29 May 2022 21:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Amber Heard has returned to the stand as part of her legal team’s rebuttal in the multi-million dollar lawsuit brought against the actor by ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Asked how she’s been affected by the Depp-Waldman statements at the centre of her counterclaim, Ms Heard on Thursday (26 May) said: “I am harassed, humiliated, threatened, every single day.”
Read more:
Amber Heard begs Johnny Depp ‘leave me alone’ claiming daily death threats over trial
Former TMZ employee snaps back at Heard lawyer
Sunday 29 May 2022 20:00 , Oliver O'Connell
A former TMZ employee testifying for Johnny Depp in his defamation trial against Amber Heard offered a scathing response when her lawyer suggested he was looking for his “15 minutes of fame”.
Morgan Tremaine appeared as a witness for the Pirates of the Carribbean actor on Wednesday in Fairfax, Virginia.
Ex-TMZ employee denies Amber Heard lawyer’s suggestion he wants ‘15 minutes of fame’
RECAP: Depp’s testimony on Heard
Sunday 29 May 2022 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Depp’s testimony on Heard, which spanned three and a half days in April, centred around his claim that she was the abuser, not him.
He described how they fell in love quickly after meeting on the set of The Rum Diary before everything went downhill.
Below are the key revelations from his testimony:
A severed finger and shouting matches: Johnny Depp’s testimony on Amber Heard
RECAP: Heard’s testimony on Depp
Sunday 29 May 2022 17:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Heard gave her account of her tumultuous relationship with Mr Depp over several days of testimony earlier this month.
She began by providing background how they met and they fell in love, before sharing several allegations of physical abuse and sexual assault.
Below are the key revelations from her testimony:
Key moments from Amber Heard’s testimony on Johnny Depp
Inside the sea of devoted fans camped out at the Depp v Heard trial
Sunday 29 May 2022 15:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Yvonne Deboer booked a whole year off work to support Johnny Depp.
The travel agent and self-proclaimed “number one fan” left behind her life in Los Angeles to come to Fairfax, Virginia, for the entirety of the actor’s defamation trial.
For the last six weeks, she has spent every day inside the courtroom watching the case unfold and every night camped outside the courthouse to snap up one of the limited spaces in the public gallery the next morning.
Ms Doboer is one of hundreds of fans who have devoted more than a month to being at the trial. Below, The Independent’s Rachel Sharp speaks to many of them outside the courthouse about why they came:
Who are the Johnny Depp fanatics camping outside the Amber Heard trial?
Explained: The fight where Johnny Depp’s finger was severed
Sunday 29 May 2022 14:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Over six weeks of explosive testimony in the trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, one especially gruelling fight has captured prominence in the case.
What’s become known as the “severed finger incident” unfolded in March 2015 when the couple were staying in Australia while Depp filmed the fifth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Depp and Heard each shared their own accounts of the events that led to Depp losing the tip of his finger; with him alleging that it was cut when Ms Heard threw a vodka bottle at him. Ms Heard said she was not awake when the injury occurred and claimed that Depp assaulted her with a vodka bottle the same night.
Attorneys for both actors brought in their own medical experts to testify about the injury and what could have caused it, while witnesses for Depp described efforts to locate the tip of the finger.
The jury was also shown countless grueling photos of Depp’s wound as well as messages he wrote in blood and paint on the walls that night.
Whether jurors choose to believe Mr Depp or Ms Heard’s account of the fight is likely to have huge implications on the outcome of the case in which both stars claim they were victimised by the other.
The Independent’s Megan Sheets explains the evidence at play:
How was Johnny Depp’s finger severed in Australia fight with Amber Heard?
Explainer: How did this trial come about?
Sunday 29 May 2022 12:00 , Oliver O'Connell
A jury began deliberations in the defamation trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard on 27 May after six weeks of explosive testimony.
As the verdict looms, here’s everything to know about the case:
Why is Johnny Depp suing Amber Heard?
Most explosive moments so far in star-studded defamation trial
Sunday 29 May 2022 10:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Over six weeks of testimony, jury heard from string of witnesses including the couple’s friends, psychiatric experts, surgeons and the actors themselves. Testimony painted captivating and disturbing portrait of a doomed marriage, laying bare violent fights, drug use and vicious words to each other. Here are some of most dramatic moments.
Most explosive moments in the star-studded Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation trial
Depp v Heard judge and staff applauded in court as jury sent out to deliberate
Sunday 29 May 2022 08:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Rachel Sharp reports from Fairfax County, Virginia.
Depp v Heard judge applauded as jury sent out to deliberate
The trial’s bizarre parasocial fans
Sunday 29 May 2022 06:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Within hours of a makeup company posting about the trial on TikTok, a Johnny Depp fan turned up at the courthouse in Virginia to hand-deliver ‘evidence’ to Depp’s lawyers. Another posts videos online suggesting a secret relationship between Depp and his lawyer, Camille Vasquez.
Meredith Clark reports.
The bizarre parasocial fans of the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial
Heard lawyer says she should win case even if she cut Depp’s finger off with an axe
Sunday 29 May 2022 04:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Amber Heard’s lawyer raised eyebrows in his closing argument as he sought to downplay the importance of a fight in which Johnny Depp’s finger was severed.
Hours of testimony in the defamation trial opposing the Hollywood stars centred around a violent incident in Australia in 2015, during which the tip of Mr Depp’s finger was cut off.
Megan Sheets reports.
Amber Heard lawyer says she should win even if she cut Johnny Depp’s finger with axe
Jack Sparrow cosplayers, court campers and dogs dressed as lawyers
Sunday 29 May 2022 02:00 , Oliver O'Connell
For the last six weeks, hundreds have descended on the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia for the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. With the trial drawing to a close, Rachel Sharp speaks to the fans about why they turned up.
Who are the Johnny Depp fanatics camping outside the Amber Heard trial?
Heard lawyers accuse Depp of ‘victim blaming at its most disgusting’
Sunday 29 May 2022 00:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Amber Heard’s lawyer Benjamin J Rottenborn accused Johnny Depp of “victim blaming at its most disgusting” during his closing argument at the couple’s defamation trial.
Taking the jury through the individual sentences in Ms Heard’s 2018 The Washington Post op-ed at the heart of Mr Depp’s $50m lawsuit against her – and why they weren’t defamatory in nature – Mr Rottenborn on Friday reminded the jury of Ms Heard’s testimony earlier in the trial.
Read more:
Amber Heard lawyers accuse Johnny Depp of ‘victim blaming at its most disgusting’
Heard lawyer calls out Depp for ‘laughing’ and ‘snide comments’ in court
Saturday 28 May 2022 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Amber Heard’s lawyer accused Johnny Depp of “laughing and making snide remarks” in court as the jury was shown a video that the actor himself previously said showed him “assaulting cabinets”.
Megan Sheets reports:
Amber Heard lawyer calls out Johnny Depp for ‘laughing’ during closing argument
Closing arguments disrupted as storm warning blares through courtroom
Saturday 28 May 2022 20:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Closing arguments in the defamation trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were disrupted on Friday as a storm warning blared through the courtroom.
Ms Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn was in the middle of his closing at the court in Fairfax, Virginia, when phones began to go off, causing him to pause.
Read more:
Depp v Heard closing arguments disrupted as storm warning blares through courtroom
Heard lawyer says ruling in favour of Depp would make jurors an ‘accomplice’ to his abuse
Saturday 28 May 2022 19:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Amber Heard’s attorney has told jurors that ruling in favour of Johnny Depp would make them an “accomplice” to his abuse, as the former couple’s multi-million-dollar defamation neared a dramatic close on Friday morning.
Attorney Benjamin Rottenborn began delivering closing statements to the court in Fairfax, Virginia, where he warned that Mr Depp’s claims he was not abusive to Ms Heard sends a “message” to survivors of domestic abuse everywhere.
“In trying to convince you that Mr Depp has carried his burden of proof in proving that he was never abusive to Amber on even one occasion, think about the message that Mr Depp and his attorneys are sending to Amber and by extension to every victim of domestic abuse everywhere,” he said.
Rachel Sharp reports:
Amber Heard lawyer urges jurors not to be ‘accomplice’ to Johnny Depp’s abuse
Depp lawyer calls Heard’s domestic abuse claims ‘an act of profound cruelty to true survivors’
Saturday 28 May 2022 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez said it was an “act of profound cruelty... to true survivors” for Amber Heard to “hold herself out as a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
In her closing arguments on Friday (27 May) at Virginia’s Fairfax County circuit court, Ms Vasquez told the jury: “The mountain of evidence that Mr Depp abused Ms Heard is simply not there.
“What we have is mountain of unproven allegations that are wild, over-the-top, and implausible. And you can’t pick and choose which of these wild allegations to believe, and which ones to disregard,” she continued, adding, “You either believe all of it, or none of it. Either Mr Depp sexually assaulted Ms Heard with a bottle in Australia, or Ms Heard got up on that stand, in front of all of you, and made up that horrific tale of abuse.
“Either she’s a victim of truly horrific abuse or she’s a woman who’s willing to say absolutely anything.”
Johnny Depp lawyer calls Amber Heard’s abuse claims ‘an act of profound cruelty’
Depp asks jurors to ‘give him his life back’ after it was ‘ruined’ by Heard
Saturday 28 May 2022 16:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Johnny Depp is pleading with jurors to “give him his life back” after he claims it was “ruined” by Amber Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse, as closing arguments finally got underway in the former couple’s high-profile defamation trial.
Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez told jurors on Friday morning that it was exactly six years to the day that Heard “falsely” accused her ex-husband of domestic abuse.
Read more:
Johnny Depp closing argument asks jurors to ‘give him his life back’
Heard would ‘rather be in a fight than let Johnny Depp leave’, jury hears
Saturday 28 May 2022 14:30 , Oliver O'Connell
Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez alleged that Amber Heard “would rather be in a fight than have him leave” in closing arguments on Friday (27 May).
Ms Vasquez delivered closing arguments on behalf of Mr Depp in the multi-million dollar defamation trial, which began on 11 April in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court.
“You’ve heard evidence from Dr Curry...that Ms Heard’s deepest fear is one of abandonment. being left by Mr Depp,” Ms Vasquez told the jury adding, “Mr Depp’s greatest crime in her mind, the fault she confronts him with time and time again, is that he splits.
“He leaves the fight – especially when Ms Heard gets physical. And she couldn’t stand it when he did. You heard from Ms Heard herself, in audio recordings, how upsetting it was to her when Mr Depp would split,” before playing an audio recording of Ms Heard for the courthouse.
Amber Heard would ‘rather be in a fight than let Johnny Depp leave’, jury hears
What does Depp need to prove to win?
Saturday 28 May 2022 11:00 , Oliver O'Connell
What Johnny Depp needs to prove to win his case against Amber Heard
What happens next and what are the possible verdicts?
Saturday 28 May 2022 09:00 , Oliver O'Connell
What happens next in the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation trial?
Most explosive moments from the trial
Saturday 28 May 2022 07:00 , Oliver O'Connell
The defamation trial opposing Depp and Heard has put the Hollywood heavyweights’ tumultuous relationship on full display inside a courtroom in Fairfax, Virginia.
Here are some of the most dramatic moments:
Most explosive moments in the star-studded Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation trial
RECAP: Depp’s testimony on Heard
Saturday 28 May 2022 04:59 , Oliver O'Connell
Depp’s testimony on Heard, which spanned three and a half days in April, centred around his claim that she was the abuser, not him.
He described how they fell in love quickly after meeting on the set of The Rum Diary before everything went downhill.
Below are the key revelations from his testimony:
A severed finger and shouting matches: Johnny Depp’s testimony on Amber Heard
RECAP: Heard’s testimony on Depp
Saturday 28 May 2022 04:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Heard gave her account of her tumultuous relationship with Mr Depp over several days of testimony earlier this month.
She began by providing background how they met and they fell in love, before sharing several allegations of physical abuse and sexual assault.
Below are the key revelations from her testimony:
Key moments from Amber Heard’s testimony on Johnny Depp
Inside the sea of devoted fans camped out at the Depp v Heard trial
Saturday 28 May 2022 03:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Yvonne Deboer booked a whole year off work to support Johnny Depp.
The travel agent and self-proclaimed “number one fan” left behind her life in Los Angeles to come to Fairfax, Virginia, for the entirety of the actor’s defamation trial.
For the last six weeks, she has spent every day inside the courtroom watching the case unfold and every night camped outside the courthouse to snap up one of the limited spaces in the public gallery the next morning.
Ms Doboer is one of hundreds of fans who have devoted more than a month to being at the trial. Below, The Independent’s Rachel Sharp speaks to many of them outside the courthouse about why they came:
Who are the Johnny Depp fanatics camping outside the Amber Heard trial?
Heard spars with Johnny Depp attorney over Kate Moss
Saturday 28 May 2022 02:00 , Oliver O'Connell
Heard spars with Depp attorney when grilled about Kate Moss and others supporting him
