Attorneys for Johnny Depp began their closing arguments in his $50 million defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard in a Virginia courtroom on Friday, alleging that the stakes were sky-high.
Not just “a man’s good name” but “a man’s life” hung in the balance, according to Camille Vasquez, the lawyer championed by Depp fans online for the condescending style of questioning she used in cross-examination with Heard.
Depp maintains that Heard lied about him in a 2018 Washington Post editorial that described herself as a survivor of domestic violence, causing him to lose out on multimillion-dollar film deals including the sixth “Pirates of the Caribbean” installment.
Although the editorial did not name Depp, his team says it was abundantly clear the piece referred to him, given that it referenced the year Heard obtained a temporary restraining order against her then-husband.
“On May 27, 2016, Ms. Heard walked into a courthouse in Los Angeles, California, to get a no-notice ex parte restraining order against Mr. Depp, and in doing so, ruined his life by falsely telling the world that she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp,” Vasquez began her argument before the jury, noting that it had been six years to the day.
“As you probably know by now, my name is Camille Vasquez,” she told the courtroom.
Heard has defended her claims and is countersuing Depp for $100 million.
Between Vasquez and attorney Benjamin Chew, Depp’s team dutifully summarized the evidence they had presented to the jury over the course of the six-week trial. They replayed some of the audio and visual highlights, including a clip of Heard saying, “Babe, you’re not punched. I was hitting you.” The evidence portrayed Heard as an unreasonable person who was “violent, abusive [and] cruel” to Depp, while he was “never” physically violent in response, according to Vasquez.
“She is a deeply troubled person violently afraid of abandonment, desperate for approval,” Vasquez said of Heard, reminding jurors of testimony from a psychiatrist hired by Depp who claimed that Heard has borderline personality disorder. A mental health professional hired by Heard testified that she suffered from PTSD from her relationship with Depp.
Chew told the jury that domestic abuse was “the worst thing” you could allege against a man in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which he said Depp supported.
The Hollywood couple split in 2016, and terms of their divorce were finalized in early 2017. While Heard had pledged to split her $7 million settlement between two causes ― the ACLU and a Los Angeles children’s hospital ― testimony at trial indicated she only donated a fraction of the funds, as Vasquez reminded the jury. Casting doubt on Heard’s credibility, she played a clip in which Heard asserts she donated the full amount in an on-camera interview.
Depp’s team downplayed the evidence presented against their client, including the video clip secretly recorded by Heard that showed the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star slamming cabinets and pouring himself a massive glass of red wine.
Heard’s team will have two hours to present their own closing arguments before the jury goes off to deliberate.
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