The script for the newest installment on this saga is but to be written.
With their bitter, controversial and sometimes graphic six-week libel trial behind them, followers are questioning what’s subsequent for former Hollywood couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
Onlookers from all over the world tuned in as Depp and Heard hurled accusations at one another, from sexual assault to substance abuse to mattress defecation.
A jury determined Wednesday in a Virginia court docket that Heard, 36, defamed Depp, 58, and may obtain $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which the decide diminished to a complete of $10.35 million in punitive damages. they’re lined in that state. The lawsuit arose as a result of Heard wrote a Washington Submit op-ed that implicated him as a home abuser, however didn’t title him.
The identical seven-member jury awarded Heard $2 million of her counterclaim, agreeing that considered one of Depp’s attorneys defamed her by calling her claims deceptive.
Whereas Heard’s lawyer has mentioned the actress will enchantment, the data exchanged at this trial, in addition to a 2020 defamation lawsuit Depp filed in opposition to a British tabloid the place jurors sided with Heard, has left a foul style. by mouth in lots of.
The careers of the 2 actors will finally be determined within the court docket of public opinion. Will audiences return to theaters to see Depp play common baby hero Captain Jack Sparrow within the massively profitable “Pirates of the Caribbean” motion pictures? Can Heard return to her position as Queen Mera within the “Aquaman” superhero franchise?
Whereas Depp thanked the jury for “bringing him again to life” after the decision, disaster advisor Ryan McCormick, a accomplice at New York-based agency Goldman McCormick, mentioned Depp has lots of work to do if he hopes to convey again the life that a as soon as had. . However in keeping with McCormick, the street forward for Heard is way more tough.
“The last word loser on this case is Amber Heard,” he mentioned.
McCormick feels there isn’t any doubt that Depp expressed his viewpoint extra successfully throughout the trial and believes that Heard was “malicious” in her statements.
“I believe his profession is completely broken,” he mentioned. “To not say that Johnny Depp will get to the place he was once, however at the very least he has an opportunity.”
The general public relations skilled notes that four.5 million folks signed an internet petition launched throughout the trial to stop Heard from collaborating in an “Aquaman” sequel. McCormick mentioned he would suggest that Heard begin a podcast the place she talks about points which are essential to ladies and maybe launch a basis alongside these traces. One potential pitfall, she mentioned, is that Heard might get again into authorized bother if she comes ahead as a sufferer of home abuse.
Depp, McCormick mentioned, may wish to take into account making impartial motion pictures that showcase the appearing chops that helped him amass an enormous fan base over a number of many years. He believes will probably be about 5 years earlier than it turns into clear whether or not the Golden Globe winner is usually a celebrity once more. Submitting the lawsuit in opposition to his ex-wife appeared like a stable first step.
“Johnny Depp wanted to do that,” he mentioned. “Regaining some credibility was crucial to him.”
McCormick mentioned that, as Depp’s fan base reveals and the jury’s verdict confirmed, folks are inclined to establish with the “Lone Ranger” actor.
“If Hollywood thinks it is nonetheless bankable, they’re going to put it in motion pictures,” he mentioned.
Depp’s agent testified that his consumer needed to work for much less cash than he was value after Heard’s article and that a $22.5 million deal within the works to make a sixth “Pirates of the Caribbean” cope with Disney fell by. down following your statements. Heard’s staff argued that it was Depp’s behaviour, not something his consumer did, that prevented the deal from going forward.
Beverly Hills leisure legal professional Mitra Ahouraian thinks Depp acquired harm, however on high, and finds it spectacular that he triumphed in a court docket system the place defamation lawsuits are tough for celebrities to efficiently argue. Based on Ahouraian, the viewers got here all the way down to which actor gave one of the best efficiency.
“Depp, on the witness stand, was likeable, endearing and real. He acknowledged his shortcomings and took full duty, however he refused to be charged with one thing that he claimed he did not do, and that earned him factors, each with the general public and with the jury,” Ahouraian instructed the Each day Information. “Heard, alternatively, was unconvincing, and his credibility was known as into query on a number of events. Merely put, the jury did not imagine him.”
Ahouraian believes the “poisonous” social media backlash in opposition to Heard will not be useful as she searches for brand new roles. That, in keeping with the showbiz lawyer, presents one other drawback.
“It is exhausting to think about how Amber Heard, contemplating the tens of millions of dollars in authorized charges she’s already paid, will have the ability to pay Depp jury damages,” Ahouraian mentioned. “She made 1,000,000 dollars from the primary ‘Aquaman’ film, and that was her greatest position so far.”
Ahourian mentioned a Hollywood ending shouldn’t be out of the query for Depp, who’s estimated by CelebrityNetWorth.com to be value $150 million.
“What can be an fascinating plot twist is for him to say no the cash or settle for it and donate it to charity,” she mentioned.
Heard has pledged to donate Depp’s $7 million settlement following their 2016 divorce to numerous causes, however has claimed that Depp’s lawsuit prevented these commitments. CelbrityNetWorth.com now estimates Heard’s value at a unfavorable $6 million.
West Coast publicist Steve Allen starred with Depp in a 1989 episode of the TV crime present “21 Bounce Road.” He thinks Heard and Depp, who “gained, no matter meaning,” will profit professionally by connecting with the fan bases that cheered them on throughout the trial. Allen mentioned that Depp’s jury victory doesn’t imply that 100% of the general public is on his facet.
“It is 60-40, possibly 65-35,” he mentioned. “Every of us is a ‘member of the jury.'”
He additionally believes that a movie about “one of the best trial in America” is sort of inevitable.
