It will probably be the most publicized court decision of the year 2022 (and maybe even 2023). This Wednesday, the jury of the court of Fairfax, Virginia, found Amber Heard guilty of defamation against Johnny Depp, ordering her to pay her ex-husband $ 15 million in damages. The jurors also ordered Johnny Depp to pay two million dollars to his ex-wife for the defamatory remarks made by his lawyer. But in reality, things are not that simple. With the help of experts in American law, 20 minutes tells you what this case will really cost both parties.
How was the damage inflicted on Johnny Depp and Amber Heard assessed?
First of all, it should be remembered that in this case, Johnny Depp had initially claimed 50 million damages for defamation from Amber Heard following a column that she had written in 2018 in the washington post in which she claimed to have been the victim of domestic violence. The actress aimed at her ex-husband, without directly naming him. Johnny Depp’s lawyer then mentioned a “set-up” in the newspaper DailyMail in 2020, which had led the actress to counterattack by demanding in turn 100 million dollars in damages for defamation.
“In a defamation lawsuit, it is very complicated to assess the damages because we assess what emotional damage and what damage to professional reputation has been caused by a public speech”, comments Mathilde Philip-Gay professor of public law. at Lyon 3 University, specializing in American constitutional law. Added to this is the fact that the two protagonists are well-known people, whose careers have suffered from this affair. According to entertainment expert Kathryn Arnold, Amber Heard would have lost between 45 and 50 million dollars. As for Johnny Depp’s lawyers, they estimate the losses of the Hollywood actor at 40 million dollars.
Why are the fine amounts so different?
First, the offenses are not of the same order. “The jurors probably felt that the defamatory remarks of Johnny Depp’s lawyer reported in an article in the DailyMail were less serious than those held in her gallery by Amber Heard, published in a major American media, ”says Mathilde Philip-Gay. For the first, it is also a question of accusation of “hoax”. For the latter, accusations of verbal, physical and sexual violence.
The career of each of the actors comes into play… of accounts. Although Amber Heard was a well-known and rising actress at the time, Johnny Depp remains a much more famous Hollywood superstar. The impact of the defamation and consequently the damages were therefore, according to our experts, considered more important by the jurors.
What will Amber Heard really have to pay?
Despite the conviction, Amber Heard should not have to pay Johnny Depp $ 15 million. First, it is necessary to withdraw from this initial amount the two million that the actor must now pay him. Then, “out of the 15 million fines, ten are compensatory damages similar to those we have in France. The remaining five are so-called “punitive” damages, which does not exist as such with us,” explains Mathilde Philip-Gay. “It’s an additional sentence that the jury decides when they believe that a party has done something really serious and that they should not do it again. It is a sentence that is intended to be a deterrent, ”reports Shawn Quinn, lawyer at the New York bar.
“Except that in Virginia, the state where the trial took place, punitive damages are capped at 350,000 dollars,” recalls Mathilde Philip-Gay. The calculations made: it remains for Amber Heard to pay 8,350,000 dollars to Johnny Depp. To pay this sum, she could draw from the seven million affected in 2016 after her divorce from the actor and which she apparently would not have given to associations as she had initially announced. And the law professor to recall: “It could also be, if there is no dispute and the case is over, that there is an arrangement or an agreement between the two ex-spouses. It’s quite common in the United States. »
Note that at the time of writing, Elaine Bredehoft, Amber Heard’s lawyer, has ruled that her client has been “demonized” by Johnny Depp’s legal team and that she could not ” absolutely not” pay more than eight million dollars in damages. The lawyer said she intended to appeal the decision.