Why Johnny Depp isn’t in court to hear defamation trial verdict
The jury reached a verdict in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial Wednesday — with a unanimous verdict on all three counts in favor of Depp, while Heard also won for one of three claims in her own defamation countersuit — but the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was not on deck to hear the results.
Since closing arguments wrapped up on Friday, Depp, 58, jet-setted from the Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom to the United Kingdom.
“Due to previously scheduled work commitments made before the trial, Mr. Depp will not be physically present for today’s 3 p.m. verdict and will be watching from the United Kingdom,” a source close to the actor told The Post.
Heard, however, was in the courtroom, waiting for the verdict to be read.
“Your presence shows where your priorities are. Johnny Depp plays guitar in the UK while Amber Heard waits for a verdict in Virginia,” a rep for Heard told The Post. “Depp is taking his snickering and lack of seriousness on tour.”
The panel of jurors awarded Depp a total of $15 million in damages after deliberating for about 13 hours. The judge, however, capped the amount in damages he could receive at $350,000.
In a statement to The Post, the actress said she was “heartbroken” about the verdict in favor of Depp. “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” she said.
Depp, in his own statement obtained by The Post, applauded that “the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled,” adding, “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun.”
After the verdict, a fan captured a high-fiving Depp at The Bridge Tavern brewpub in Newcastle.
And before, Depp was spotted leaving the 100 Queen’s Gate Hotel London, where suites can cost up to $2,985 a night, the Daily Mail reported.
The actor, accused of domestic abuse during his marriage to Heard, spent his Memorial Day weekend onstage at Jeff Beck concerts: two in Sheffield and one in London.
On the third night, fan video captured Depp and Beck waving together and embracing on stage.
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The actor wore a bandana to hold back his long, blond hair. The duo performed a rendition of their 2020 collaboration “Isolation,” a cover of a song John Lennon released in 1970.
Audience members cheered, “We love you, Johnny!” — and gave the Hollywood star a standing ovation.
Depp’s former lover and recent rebuttal witness Kate Moss also attended the London show. Sources said he invited her.
The supermodel appeared in court on May 25 to testify that Depp did not throw her down a flight of steps like Heard claimed he did.
“He never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs,” Moss, looking elegant in a white pussybow blouse and black blazer, said with a smirk.
The jury, who had Monday off in observance of the holiday, started deliberations on Friday. While Depp was en route to party like a rockstar, the seven-person jury had a question for Judge Penney Azcarate.
The question was whether they found the headline of the op-ed — which read, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath” — to be false.
Azcarate told the Fairfax, Virginia, court that the jury was asking if the question related to just the headline itself or the entire op-ed.
She said she would instruct the jurors that they were to consider the headline — and not the op-ed as a whole.
“The statement is the headline and not the entire op-ed,” the judge said.
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