After six weeks of trial, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation lawsuits are now officially in the hands of a jury.
Potential payouts that could reach $ 100 million dollars, as well as the reputations of two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, who have already been deeply affected as a result of the high-profile lawsuit that exposed their dating relationship. years.
Speaking to seven jurors in the Virginia Fairfax County Circuit Court, and to an audience watching on television and online around the world, attorneys for both actors presented their closing arguments this Friday, 27 May, six years to the day Heard received a restraining order against Depp, now her ex-husband, citing physical abuse .
Depp’s team argued that the star of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ had ruined her Heard’s false accusations of abuse, which she repeated in a Washington Post op-ed by 2018 for which she is suing. In the article, Heard did not name her ex-husband, but said that she was a victim.
Depp has testified that he never hit Heard and argued that she was the abuser in their relationship. she. He said that she threw a bottle of vodka at him earlier in 2015 and cut off the top of his right middle finger.
Amber, meanwhile , assured that she did not cause the finger injury and said that she only hit him to defend herself or her sister, as she allegedly believed that Johnny was going to push her down the stairs when she intervened in an argument between the actors.
Heard sued Depp for $100 million dollars after that the actor’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, described his accusations as a hoax.
The jury, made up of seven people, must reach a unanimous decision for a verdict. They will decide Depp’s claim and Heard’s counterclaim at the same time.
Initially, the trial was scheduled to end on Thursday of May. However, with significant evidence yet to be considered, additional time was allowed to ensure that the jury would fully appreciate the information provided to them.