(CNN) — Johnny Depp and Amber Heard starred in a media trial that lasted six weeks in a court in Fairfax, Virginia. Finally, this Wednesday the jury reached a verdict that declared them both responsible for defamation.
Depp sued his ex-wife for $50 million over an op-ed she wrote on The Washington Post in 2018. Heard countersued her ex-husband for defamation over statements Depp’s lawyer made about his abuse claims.
How they got there, 13 years after they first met, is the story of an on-set spark that turned into a brief marriage gone wrong.
2009
Depp and Heard first met on the set of the movie “The Rum Diary” in 2009.
Johnny Depp y Amber Heard en ‘The Rum Diary’.
Based on the book of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, the film stars Depp as a journalist named Paul Kemp who takes a job in Puerto Rico. Heard played Chenault, with whom Kemp falls in love at first sight.
On the witness stand at the libel trial this week, Depp described the connection he felt with Heard when a scene called for their characters to kiss in the shower.
“That moment was, was, felt like something, felt like something I shouldn’t be feeling,” Depp said, explaining that the two were in other relationships at the time. “I think there was something about the kiss in the shower that was real.”
Depp testified that the two met again two years later on a promotional tour for the film.
2012
Depp and his partner, Vanessa Paradis – with whom he has two children, Lily-Rose and John Christopher – separated in 2012.
Heard and Depp began dating and then got engaged in 2014, according to a People magazine report at the time.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, then engaged, arrive at the Met Gala in 2014.
2015
Depp and Heard married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles.
2016
Heard filed for divorce after 15 months of marriage. He obtained a temporary restraining order against Depp, claiming that he abused her while he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Depp denied the allegations and a $7 million settlement was reached in August 2016. Heard donated the money to charity.
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The actors released a joint statement at the time that read: “Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound together by love. Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intention of physical or emotional harm.
2018
Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in December 2018 about the treatment of women in domestic abuse cases. She didn’t mention Depp by name.
2019
Depp sued Heard for $50 million for defamation over her Washington Post article, claiming it cost him a lucrative acting job.
Heard was unsuccessful in his attempt to have the suit dismissed. His $100 million counterclaim case is ongoing.
2020
In 2020, Depp took the editor of The Sun to court for libel in the UK over a 2018 article that claimed he was violent towards Heard.
Johnny Depp during his libel case in London in 2020.
Depp denied all allegations of abuse.
Heard testified in that case, claiming at one point that Depp threatened to kill her “many times.”
The UK court found the newspaper’s claims to be “substantially true” and Depp was denied an appeal.
2022
The trial for Depp’s libel case against Heard began in Virginia on April 12.
Amber Heard speaks with her legal team in Virginia court this week.
Depp sued Heard, his ex-wife, for defamation over a 2018 opinion piece she wrote for The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Although Depp was not named in the article, she claims that she cost him lucrative acting roles. Heard countersued her ex-husband for libel over statements Depp’s lawyer made about her abuse allegations.
Weighing the claims, a jury found that the two defamed each other.
Heard and Depp met in 2009 and were married from 2015-2016.
The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages.
