Update: Wednesday, June 1, 2022:

Johnny Depp wins Defamation Trial against Amber Heard. The jury awarded Depp $10 million with an additional $5 million in damages. Heard was awarded $2 million in her counter-suit against Depp. Depp originally sued his ex-wife for $50 million after losing contracts for Pirates of the Caribbean with Disney and the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

Original Story submitted 31 May 2022:

The long and tumultuous defamation trial where Johnny Depp is suing Amber Heard for 50 million dollars because Heard claimed Depp abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed has finally come to a close as of Friday, May 27th. This five-week-long trial has been closely scrutinized by the public eye and while a majority of the people believe that Depp should and will win the case, it is up to the jury. It is unclear how long deliberation will take as it has only begun today May 31st due to Memorial Day Weekend. 

The closing statements were made for both sides last Friday. In Heard’s lawyer’s final statement they stated that the jury ruling in favor of Depp would be allowing him to get away with abuse, and they would be “victim-blaming at its most disgusting”. In the same closing statement, her lawyers said that Depp was now trying to ruin Heard’s reputation with this trial and is running a “campaign of global humiliation” against her. 

In the closing statements made by Depp’s lawyers, they asked the jury to “give him his life back” as Depp has struggled to find work since the op-ed was written and had lost about 50 million dollars in work from the Pirates of The Caribbean franchise as well as the Fantastic Beasts franchise which he was released from shortly after the claims were made. They said that Heard will not let Depp go and is stringing him along for as long as possible. They also said that Heard’s allegations of domestic violence are a mockery of true domestic abuse survivors. 

While the majority of the public appears to be on Johnny Depp’s side, it is now up to the jurors to deliver the final verdict in this long trial.