Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard closing arguments: 5 key takeaways

The defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, which went on for six weeks, moved towards its final phase as the jury began deliberations on May 27, 2022. Both parties presented their closing arguments to the jury, summarizing all the allegations and necessary evidence chronologically.

After all the evidence had been taken into consideration and all the witnesses had testified, both parties in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial put forth their closing arguments. All the relevant points that surfaced during the trial were revisited and presented systematically as both sides took their last stand.

---

5 key highlights from the closing arguments of the Depp vs. Heard trial

The closing arguments were presented by Johnny Depp's lawyers, Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew, followed by Amber Heard's lawyers, Benjamin Rottenborn and Elaine Bredehoft, and this was followed by their respective rebuttals.

5) Camille Vasquez called Amber Heard a liar

Camille Vasquez, Depp's lawyer, was the first to present her argument and called Amber Heard a liar who came to court to give "the performance of her life."

She alleged that, in 2016, when she filed for a no-notice restraining order against her then-husband, Johnny Depp, she had tipped TMZ off on it. She got herself photographed to showcase the bruise marks, which supposedly showed up six days after she had last met Depp.

Vasquez also went on to say that either all of Heard's allegations are true or none of them are, and the allegations could not be cherry-picked for convenience, referring to the relatively new allegations of sexual abuse against Depp.

"Either she is a victim of truly horrific abuse, or she is a woman who is willing to say absolutely anything"

---

4) Amber Heard's inability to cry when acting

Camille Vasquez, in her argument, pointed out that Amber Heard could be seen crying on multiple occasions throughout the duration of the trial but never had any tears on her face. She then equated that with what Heard's acting coach, Kristina Sexton, had testified to, Heard's difficulty in crying when she acted.

Vasquez went on to invalidate all the allegations put forth by Heard as elaborate lies, which have remained unverified during the course of the trial due to a lack of concrete evidence.

---

3) If Johnny Depp abused her even once, Heard should win

Amber Heard's lawyer, Benjamin Rottenborn, stated during his argument that if Heard was found to have been subjected to abuse by Johnny Depp even once, she should win the trial.

He followed this up by citing different forms of abuse that should be taken into account, like physical abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse, or sexual abuse.

Rottenborn argued that even one instance of abuse would mean Heard's allegations against Depp were correct. This would invalidate Johnny Depp's allegations of defamation against Heard.

---

2) Amber Heard's role in Aquaman 2 unaffected by the trial

Amber Heard as Mera in Aquaman (Image via Warner Bros.)

Johnny Depp's lawyers pointed out that DC Film's president Walter Hamada stated that Amber Heard did not receive any loss of compensation or reduced screentime in Aquaman 2 due to the allegations against her.

She points out that this was not the case for Johnny Depp, who lost two renowned franchises and has not received any major work since.

---

1) Calling on the validity of the First Amendment

Benjamin Rottenborn, Heard's lawyer, relied on the validity of the First Amendment in the United States of America when he said that Amber Heard had the right to write about her experiences in the op-ed, where she did not state anybody's name explicitly.

According to him, the article was carefully structured not to make it about Johnny Depp but about Amber Heard being a survivor of domestic abuse.

---

The seven-person civil jury began deliberations on May 27, 2022 at around 3.00 pm. They eventually took a break for the holiday weekend as no consensus was reached in the two hours that ensued. They are stated to resume on May 31, 2022 in Virginia and will look to reach a unanimous decision and put a definitive end to the trial.