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Published 18:23 IST, June 4th 2022

Amber Heard's op-ed in Washington Post amended with editor's note after defamation ruling

As Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's defamation trial came to its verdict, the op-ed article at the centre of the claim has been amended with an editor's note.

Reported by: Kriti Nayyar
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IMAGE: INSTAGRAM/ @AMBERHEARD | Image: self
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Days after Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's defamation trial came to its verdict, the op-ed article that stood at the centre of the claim has been amended with an editor's note. The Washington Post's 2018 article with Heard's byline now comes with a note that details the court's judgement and cites the statements that were deemed defamatory for the Pirates Of The Caribbean star. 

The jury recently handed out its verdict in the ex-couple's highly publicized trial, deeming Heard guilty of defaming Depp three times in her op-ed. Depp was awarded  $15 million in damages, but the judge reduced it to  $10.35 million owing to state law in Virginia. Heard, who was also awarded $2 million in the countersuit, plans to now appeal the verdict, according to People

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Amber Heard's Washington Post op-ed amended after defamation ruling 

The note in the digital version of her op-ed reads, "In 2019, Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for defamation arising out of this 2018 op-ed. On June 1, 2022, following a trial in Fairfax County, Va. Circuit Court, a jury found Heard liable on three counts for the following statements, which Depp claimed were false and defamatory: (1) 'I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change.' (2) 'Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out.' (3) 'I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.' The jury separately found that Depp, through his lawyer Adam Waldman, defamed Heard in one of three counts in her countersuit."

Johnny and Heard's trial went on for about seven weeks, where the duo presented the witnesses who recounted their versions of the incidents that happened in the turbulent relationship. 

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Following the result, Heard's legal aid Elaine Bredehoft has said the star was 'demonized' by Depp's legal team and excoriated on social media. On the other hand, Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez maintained that the result just confirms that the" claims against Johnny Depp are defamatory and unsupported by any evidence.” 

(IMAGE: INSTAGRAM/ @AMBERHEARD)

18:23 IST, June 4th 2022