After six weeks of testimony, a split verdict was returned on the former couple’s dueling defamation claims, more than three years after Johnny Depp sued ex-wife Amber Heard over an op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post about surviving domestic abuse.
The trial gave Depp an opportunity to air his narrative of a 15-month marriage, and Heard to describe hers. Depp swore in April that Heard’s allegations were “not based in any species of truth,” while Heard said she felt like “the most beautiful person in the whole world” at the start but later feared for her life due to physical and sexual abuse.
Key moments included testimony from a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which had written the first draft of the op-ed and pitched it on the same day Heard's film Aquaman was released. Jurors also heard that Heard had not fulfilled a pledge to donate $3.5m to civil rights groups, with some of the paid amount coming from Elon Musk.
Other details emerged, such as a discovery of feces on the marital bed, which Depp indicated could not have come from the couple's two dogs. Model Kate Moss appeared briefly to quash rumours that Depp had pushed her down stairs during their relationship.
