Amber Heard believes her defeat in the Johnny Depp defamation lawsuit is a serious “hindrance” for women who speak up, and that she has lost her right to free speech as a result.
According to Heard, today’s disappointment is indescribable. She is devastated that the pile of proof was insufficient to overcome her ex-enormous husband’s authority, influence, and persuasion.
She goes on, she is even more saddened by the implications of this decision for other women. It’s a disappointment. It reverts to a time when a woman who spoke up and out may be publicly humiliated and disgraced. It undermines the notion that violence against women should be treated seriously.
Jury awards $15m to Johnny Depp in defamation case against Amber HeardBREAKING: "There you have it. A substantial for verdict for Johnny Depp, but not complete. A devastating defeat really for Amber Heard, although she did win on one count," Terry Moran reports. https://abcn.ws/3NKTzgD
Posted by ABC World News Tonight with David Muir on Wednesday, June 1, 2022
As initially disclosed, Depp was given $10.35 million in damages by a jury on Wednesday after a jury determined Heard slandered him in her op-ed headlined “‘I stood up against sexual abuse — and faced our culture’s fury.” Heard was given compensatory damages of $2 million.
Heard explained she believed Johnny’s counsel were successful in convincing the jury to disregard the important subject of Freedom of Speech and reject proof that was so clear that they won in the UK.
Ultimately, she declares she is sorry she didn’t win this case. But what makes her saddest is that she appears to have lost a freedom she believed she had as an American — the liberty to freely express and honestly.
As the decision was announced in the Virginia courtroom, Heard sat quietly. Depp was not physically present, although he did watch from the United Kingdom.
