Jury begins deliberations in Johnny Depp-Amber Heard libel trial

(Image credit: Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 28 May 2022

Lawyers for Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard delivered their closing arguments to the jury on Friday, bringing the six-week libel trial to an end, NPR reported.

The jury began deliberations at around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, finished for the day at around 5:00 p.m., and will resume on Tuesday.

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"We're asking you to finally hold this man responsible," Heard lawyer Elaine Bredehoft told the jury, pressing Heard's $100-million counterclaim. "He has never accepted responsibility for anything in his life." Heard's legal team has employed two main arguments. First, that Depp did abuse her. Second, that even if Depp did not abuse her, Heard's op-ed was not libelous because it did not mention Depp by name or directly address her allegations against him.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.

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