A Virginia jury on Wednesday ruled in favor of Johnny Depp in his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Depp initially filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard in 2019 over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed where she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." Despite not being named in the article, the actor claimed that the controversy had cost him lucrative roles in the "Fantastic Beasts" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchises. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million after one of his lawyers, Adam Waldman, called her abuse claims a "hoax."

The seven-person jury concluded that Heard's statements against her ex-husband were false and made with "actual malice." Depp was awarded a total of $10.35 million, including $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages for her countersuit. Both actors published statements on social media after the verdict was revealed.

The Depp-Heard trial was heavily sensationalized by outlets across the spectrum and frequently accumulated more online attention than some of the nation's "most pressing news stories" such as the Roe v Wade leak and Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Left-and center-rated headlines were more likely to accentuate how Depp and Heard were "both" found liable "for defaming each other." Some voices expressed concern that the facts surrounding the six-week trial were "manipulated" by the subjective culture war that took place on social media. Right-rated outlets were more likely to describe the verdict as an absolute victory by Depp over Heard and emphasize how the trial eroded "the legal presumption of innocence against accused men."