Johnny Depp’s lawyer calls Amber Heard ‘the abuser’ in closing statement
FAIRFAX, Va. — Johnny Depp’s lawyers blasted his ex-wife Amber Heard as the real “abuser in the courtroom,” where the jury heard final pitches from both sides Friday before beginning deliberations in the case.
“There is an abuser in this courtroom, but it is not Mr. Depp,” lawyer Camille Vasquez said. “Miss Heard is in fact the abuser and Mr. Depp is the abused.”
After six weeks of grueling and often harrowing testimony, Judge Penney Azcarate sent the jury to deliberate at 2:57 p.m.
The jury deliberated for two hours and went home for the long weekend without reaching a verdict. It will reconvene on Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Depp, 58, sued Heard for $50 million over her 2018 Washington Post essay in which she wrote about facing “our culture’s wrath” as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” He said even though the piece did not name him, it sullied his reputation and cost him eight figures in potential earnings.
Heard fired back with a $100 million countersuit, arguing that 2020 statements that she fabricated her domestic abuse claims given to the press by Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman destroyed her career and made her life hell.
Azcarate gave each side two hours to summarize the seemingly never-ending testimony that took the jury on a tour of the doomed couple’s relationship and traversed continents, movie sets and Depp’s slew of homes.
The jury must decide on both suits concurrently, meaning it can find both Depp and Heard guilty, only one of them guilty or both not guilty. It’s unclear if and how much money they will determine to award either plaintiff.
Because juries are notoriously unpredictable, it’s impossible to guess how long the seven jurors will take to deliberate.
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Vasquez insisted in her closing arguments that Heard made up the abuse allegations because she’s a “deeply troubled person” desperate for attention.
She claimed Heard ruined Depp’s life on May 27, 2016, “by falsely telling the world she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp.
“Today on May 27 2022, exactly six years later, we asked you to give Mr. Depp his life back by telling the world that Mr. Depp is not the abuser Miss Heard said he is and hold Miss Heard accountable for her lies,” she continued.
“The mountain of evidence that Mr. Depp abused Ms. Heard is simply not there. What we have is a mountain of unproven allegations that are wild, over-the-top and implausible,” Vasquez told the jury.
“And you can’t pick and choose which of these wild allegations to believe and which ones to disregard,” she added.
“You either believe all of it or not. Either Mr. Depp sexually assaulted Ms. Heard with a bottle in Australia, or Ms. Heard got up on that stand in front of all of you and made up that horrific tale of abuse.”
After Vasquez wrapped up her portion of closing arguments, she turned it over to her colleague Ben Chew, who began by recapping Depp’s difficult childhood in Kentucky and his rise to global fame while struggling with substance abuse.
“Mr. Depp is no saint, and he’s never claimed to be one,” Chew told the court. “He has made mistakes in his life as we’ve all had.”
“He has struggled with drugs and alcohol … but he is not a violent abuser. He’s not an abuser as Ms. Heard claims, and he does not deserve to have his life and legacy destroyed by [a] vicious lie.”
Heard’s lawyers went next, with her lawyer Ben Rottenborn telling the jury Friday that “If Amber was abused by Mr. Depp even one time, then she wins.”
“And we’re not just talking about physical abuse,” he said. It also included “emotional abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse.”
He argued that Depp’s true self had been revealed in court through the vulgar texts he sent about his wife, in which he fantasized about her “rotting corpse.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, these words are a window into the heart and mind of America’s favorite pirate,” the lawyer said.
He also told the jurors that a ruling against his client would send a terrible message to victims of domestic abuse.
“A ruling against Amber sends a message that no matter what you do as an abuse victim, you always have to do more,” he said. “Don’t send that message.”
Before turning the stand over to his colleague Elaine Bredehoft, Rottenborn said: “This trial is about so much more than Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard. It’s about the freedom of speech, and stand up, protect it and reject Mr. Depp’s claims against Amber.”
“It’s about the freedom of speech, and stand up, protect it and reject Mr. Depp’s claims against Amber.”
In her rebuttal closing statement, Vasquez used the final moments of her closing to try to assassinate Heard’s character.
“You may have noticed that no one showed up for Miss Heard in this courtroom other than her sister. Every other witness who traveled to Virginia for her was a paid expert,” Vasquez said.
“This is a woman who burns bridges. Her close friends don’t show up for her.”
Vasquez then went through the witnesses Depp’s team called in an effort to counter Team Heard’s claim that all the actor’s character witnesses were on his payroll.
“Kate Moss is definitely not on Mr. Depp’s payroll,” Vasquez said. “Miss Heard wants you to believe that all these people are lying.”
“Why are you here? You’re here because of a lie,” Vasquez said. “And that was a lie that Miss Heard repeated in the op-ed.”
