On June 1, a Virginia jury found Heard guilty of defaming Depp in 2018 Washington Post op-ed during which she described herself as a “domestic violence public figure” with no specific actor’s name within the piece. The jury awarded him $10 million in damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate it later reduced punitive damages to $350,000 to fulfill the state’s statutory limit.
Although Heard appealed the decision, she issued a press release on December 19 announcing that she had decided to settle the case.
In the course of the trial, Depp’s acting profession was discussed and at one point the 59-year-old testified that he had no real interest in playing Jack Sparrow on screen again.
“The actual fact is, Mr. Depp, if Disney got here to you with $300 million and one million alpacas, nothing on this earth would make you come back and work with Disney on Pirates of the Caribbean movie? That is right? lawyer Heard asked, to which Depp replied by testifying, “That is true.”