Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard Defamation Case Goes to Trial
In December 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Amber Heard published an op-ed in the Washington Post calling out societal norms that prop up domestic abusers and knock down their victims. She rehashed in the column claims she made two years earlier about enduring extensive abuse earlier in life, implying that her ex-husband Johnny Depp beat her without explicitly naming him in the piece.
Chaos ensued. Disney dropped Depp from his leading role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the multibillion dollar Pirates of the Caribbean franchise just four days after the op-ed ran. Depp sued Heard for $50 million two months later, accusing her of defaming him by describing herself as a domestic abuse survivor. This was followed by Heard filing a $100 million counterclaim alleging Depp had coordinated a campaign aimed at smearing her.
The case is now set to go to trial on April 11 in Fairfax County, Virginia. Both sides have at least partially staked their careers and reputations on 12 jurors who’ll assess their credibility in what’s essentially a “he said, she said” case. In particular, for Depp, this is his last chance in court to vindicate himself as he claims that he’s being boycotted by Hollywood over what he’s called a hoax orchestrated by his ex-wife.
