Amber Heard Calls Defamation Loss a 'Setback' for Women as Johnny Depp Says 'Best Is Yet to Come'

Now that the jury has spoken, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are sharing their reactions.

On Wednesday, the seven-person jury reached a verdict, deciding that Depp proved ex-wife Heard defamed him in her 2018 op-ed about coming forward with sexual violence allegations.

The jury awarded Depp with $15 million in damages but Heard will only have to pay $10.35 million due to Virginia law cap on punitive damages (the judge reduced the amount). In her countersuit, Heard won one of the three defamation counts, and she was awarded $2 million in damages.

Heard, 36, said in a statement, "The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband."

"I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback," she added. "It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously."

"I believe Johnny's attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the U.K.," the Aquaman actress continued. "I'm sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American — to speak freely and openly."

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Depp was not present when the verdict was read in court. He said in a statement that the "best is yet to come" for him after the verdict.

"Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed. All in the blink of an eye," he said. "False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career. And six years later, the jury gave me my life back."

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"I am truly humbled," he continued. "My decision to pursue this case, knowing very well the height of the legal hurdles that I would be facing and the inevitable, worldwide spectacle into my life, was only made after considerable thought. From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that."

Depp said he is "overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and the colossal support and kindness from around the world."

"I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up. I also hope that the position will now return to innocent until proven guilty, both within the courts and in the media," said the actor. "I wish to acknowledge the noble work of the Judge, the jurors, the court staff and the Sheriffs who have sacrificed their own time to get to this point, and to my diligent and unwavering legal team who did an extraordinary job in helping me to share the truth. The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun. Veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes."

The explosive six-week trial began when the jury was selected on April 11 in Fairfax, Virginia (there was a pre-planned weeklong break halfway through the trial). Both Depp and Heard returned to the witness stand one final time during the last week of testimonies.

"Perhaps it's easy to forget that, but I'm a human being," Heard said to the courtroom during the live-televised proceedings.

"I am harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day. Even just walking into this courtroom, sitting here in front of the world, having the worst parts of my life, things that I've lived through, used to humiliate me. People want to kill me, and they tell me so every day. People want to put my baby in the microwave, and they tell me that," she added.

The actress also said, "I'm not a saint. I'm not trying to present myself as one, as you all know," and explained that it's been "agonizing" to see online "mocking" of her testimony. "I just want Johnny to leave me alone," she said, adding, "I don't deserve this. I want to move on."

Depp, meanwhile, categorically denied Heard's "insane" allegations of abuse, telling the jury, "No human being is perfect, certainly not. None of us. But I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse, all these outlandish, outrageous stories of me committing these things and living with it for six years and waiting to be able to bring the truth out."

"This is not easy for any of us; I know that," he said, adding that Heard's "heinous" accusations have "gotten out of control."

This verdict comes 19 months after Depp lost his highly publicized U.K. libel lawsuit case against British tabloid The Sun in November 2020 for calling him a "wife-beater." The court upheld the outlet's claims as being "substantially true" and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, his attempt to overturn the decision was overruled.