On June 1, a Virginia jury found Heard responsible for defaming Depp in the 2018 lawsuit. Washington Post op-ed, in which she describes herself as “a public figure representing domestic violence” without specifically naming the actor in the work. The jury awarded him $10 million in punitive damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Fairfax . County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate subsequently reduced the punitive damages to $350,000 to meet the state statutory limit.
Although Heard filed an appeal against the verdict, she released a statement on December 19 announcing that she had made a decision to settle the case.
During the trial, Depp’s acting career was discussed and at one point the 59-year-old testified that he had no interest in playing Jack Sparrow on screen again.
“The truth is, Mr. Depp, if Disney comes to you with $300 million and a million llamas, nothing on Earth can make you go back and work with Disney on a new one. But the pirate of the Caribbean movie? Right?” Heard’s attorney asked, to which Depp replied as he stood in court, “That’s true.”
