Johnny Depp Won't Be in Courtroom for Verdict in Amber Heard Case Due to 'Work Commitments': Source

Johnny Depp will not be in the courtroom when the verdict in his trial against ex-wife Amber Heard is revealed this afternoon.

Around lunchtime Wednesday, the seven-person jury reached a verdict in the explosive six-week trial after beginning deliberations on Friday afternoon and resuming Tuesday morning after the Memorial Day holiday. Judge Penney Azcarate said the verdict will be revealed at 3 p.m. local time inside the Fairfax County, Virginia, courtroom. She previously ruled that Depp and Heard are not required to be in person when the verdict is read aloud.

A source close to Depp tells PEOPLE the actor, who first brought the lawsuit against Heard back in March 2019, will not be there in person.

"Due to previously scheduled work commitments made before the trial, Mr. Depp will not be physically present for today's 3 p.m. verdict and will be watching from the United Kingdom," the source says.

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Meanwhile, Heard, 36, is expected to be at the courthouse in person today. A spokesperson for the actress tells PEOPLE, "Your presence shows where your priorities are. Johnny Depp plays guitar in the U.K. while Amber Heard waits for a verdict in Virginia. Depp is taking his snickering and lack of seriousness on tour."

After appearing in court for closing arguments on Friday, Depp, 58, made a surprise appearance at a Jeff Beck concert in England on Sunday night at Sheffield City Hall. On Monday and Tuesday nights, he again performed guitar onstage with the rocker at shows held at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Kate Moss — the model, 48, who dated Depp in the 1990s and testified for him during the trial to deny that he abused her during their relationship — was spotted attending one of Depp's performances at Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday night.

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Depp is suing Heard for defamation, seeking $50 million in damages. He argues that her December 2018 op-ed about coming forward with domestic abuse claims damaged his career and reputation. She is countersuing, seeking $100 million in damages, claiming he defamed her via his attorney Adam Waldman, who made public statements calling her allegations an "abuse hoax," halting her Hollywood career.

About the $100 million in damages Heard is seeking, her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft said in closing arguments that they arrived at that number — double of Depp's damages — to send "a message back." She explained to the jury, "We're not asking you to give $100 million. We're asking you to just look at the damages in this case and just be fair and reasonable in whatever you determine."

In his last time back on the witness stand last week, Depp denied Heard's "insane" allegations, saying, "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 added, also saying, "I don't think anyone enjoys having to split themselves open and tell the truth."

Heard, meanwhile, returned to speak under oath one last time, describing the live-televised trial's global spectacle as "torture" for her.

"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," said Heard, who welcomed her first baby in April 2021. "Johnny threatened — promised me — that if I ever left him, he'd make me think of him every single day that I lived."

She added: "I'm not a saint. I'm not trying to present myself as one, as you all know."

"It's been agonizing," Heard said, referencing the online "mocking" of her testimony. "I just want Johnny to leave me alone." She added, "I don't deserve this. I want to move on."