Johnny Depp wins more than $10 million in defamation case against Amber Heard

Johnny Depp has won his defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, a Virginia jury decided Wednesday, with cheers going up outside the courtroom from the crowd of Depp supporters who gathered there.

Inside the courtroom, a black-clad Heard kept her eyes downcast as the jury’s concurrent decision was read, saying that she had lost the bulk of her countersuit.

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in the trial, which was broadcast and livestreamed by Court TV. However, the punitive damages were immediately reduced by Judge Penney Azcarate to Virginia’s statutory cap of $350,000.

In Heard’s countersuit, the jury awarded $2 million in compensatory damages to her after finding one of her points valid: that former Depp attorney Adam Waldman had defamed her when he told a tabloid she and her friends created a hoax that included roughing up her apartment to look worse for police.

Depp spoke out about the verdict in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.

“False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful