Amber Heard Breaks Her Silence On Huge Loss Against Johnny Depp

On Wednesday, Amber Heard finally learned her fate in the defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Although the “Aquaman” actress had accused Depp of physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological assault, the jury found that her 2018 Washington Post op-ed was defamatory towards the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor and awarded him $15 million dollars. Heard was only awarded $2 million dollars in her countersuit.

Less than an hour after the verdict was read, Heard released a statement to social media to describe her “disappointment” with the jury’s unanimous verdict.

In a short statement posted to her social media pages, “The Rum Diary” actress began, “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,”  she continued. “It is a setback. 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 UK,” she added.

“I’m sad I lost this case,” she concluded. “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.”

Amber Heard's legal team consisted of Ben Rottenborn and Elaine Bredehoft arguing on her behalf last Friday during closing arguments. Although the First Amendment and Freedom of Speech did not come up much throughout the trial, they seemed to take center stage in their closing arguments.

Rottenborn seemingly pointed out the contradiction in Depp's legal team's argument, saying, "If you don't take pictures, the abuse didn't happen. If you did take them, they're fake."

Rottenborn said that the First Amendment protects Heard's right to call herself a survivor of domestic violence, noting that statements cannot be defamatory if they are true. He told the jury that only one of Heard's abuse claims had to be credible for them to declare her a survivor of abuse.

Throughout the trial, many supporters showed up to support Johnny Depp in person. There were very few - if any - fans of Amber Heard who showed up to support her. #JusticeForJohnnyDepp was trending throughout the trial, with many claiming that Heard was lying and "fake crying" on the stand throughout her emotional testimony, where, at one point, she alleged that Depp had penetrated her with a bottle while he was filming "Pirates 5" in Australia.

However, as Depp's team was quick to point out, Heard never requested medical attention for the incident, even though she at one point indicated that she thought that the bottle was broken.

One user wrote, "People turned against Amber Heard, not because Johnny Depp is a powerful man or a famous actor, but because we watched the trial and saw who was telling the truth and who wasn't."

Author Nick Adams called Heard's guilty verdict "a win for all men who have been wrongfully accused of sexual assault." Adams added, "Johnny Depp didn’t just do this for himself, he did it for mankind."

ThatUmbrellaGuy, a vocal supporter of Johnny Depp, called the win a victory for all domestic abuse survivors.

Amber Heard's legal team has yet to indicate if she plans to file an appeal.