‘I Am Heartbroken’: Amber Heard Calls Her Loss in Defamation Trial a ‘Setback’ for Women

Amber Heard issued a statement after she was found liable for defaming her ex-husband Johnny Depp in which she called the verdict a “setback” for women.

A jury in Fairfax, Virginia spent six weeks hearing testimony after Depp sued Heard for defamation. The actor claimed his former wife portrayed him as violent in a a 2018 op-ed she wrote for the Washington Post.

Jurors sided with Depp Wednesday, and ordered Heard to pay him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The $5 million will be reduced to $350,000 due to a Virginia state law capping punitive damages, according to MSNBC’s Katie Phang.

In a statement issued moments after the verdict, Heard said the jury attacked her First Amendment right to free speech. She also said the jury’s decision set back women who come forward with abuse allegations against powerful men:

The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence was still not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband.

I am even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. 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 a jury to overlook the key issue al Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK.

I’m sad I lost this case. 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.

Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages from a countersuit. She alleged Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman had orchestrated a “smear campaign” against her. The jury agreed.

Depp had asked for $50 million in his suit, whereas Heard countersued for $100 million.