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The Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp defamation trial came to an end with the latter winning the lawsuit on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. The jury unanimously announced that Amber Heard had defamed Depp by calling herself a “domestic abuse survivor” in her 2018 The Washington Post op-ed.
Jurors ordered Amber Heard to pay $15 million in total to Depp in compensatory damages and punitive damages. However, the $5 million dollar punitive damages were later reduced to $350,000, as per Virginia law. They also awarded the Aquaman star $2 million for winning one count about Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman’s defamatory statements regarding her in the past.
Shortly after the verdict, journalist and political commentator Megyn Kelly spoke about Heard on Floyd Abrams' Speaking Freely podcast. She discussed the impact of the defamation battle on Amber Heard’s career and claimed that the actress is currently “unemployable":
"I think she’s professionally ruined for the time being."
Megyn Kelly’s comments on Amber Heard’s career
Journalist Megyn Kelly, on the Speaking Freely podcast, spoke about the aftermath of the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial and its impact on the latter’s career. She told Floyd Abrams that she believes Heard’s professional life is currently ruined:
“I think she’s professionally ruined for the time being. I’m not sure whether she comes back from this, even in a town that’s very liberal and that would be much more in the knee jerk ‘I believe all women camp.'”
Kelly mentioned that the major obstacle in Amber Heard's path at the moment is that the nation has dubbed her a “liar” following the trial:
“The problem for her in Hollywood is not that a jury has said what it’s said. The problem for her in Hollywood is the nation watched this trial and they decided she was a liar and he was a truth-teller.”
She continued:
“Yes, they were manipulated by the press. Yes, they saw YouTube mashups that the jury didn’t see and all of that, but they had the opportunity to decide with her in the court of public opinion, if that’s how they were feeling and in watching her testimonial and so on, they didn’t.”
The journalist also referenced the viral petition demanding the removal of Amber Heard from Aquaman 2, which managed to garner more than 4 million signatures:
“Hollywood, before it’s woke these days, has gotta be somewhat business-minded and capitalist. There was already a petition with, I don’t know, between three and 4 million. Maybe it’s more now to get her booted out of the next Aquaman sequel.”
Kelly then called Amber Heard “unemployable” and said that the actress currently represents all women who have made false accusations, as perceived by the public, in the past:
“They don’t wanna see her. She’s come to represent more than a woman who falsely accused a beloved actor. She’s come to represent all women who women and men feel have made false accusations. Now that’s unfair, but that’s where we are. And that’s why I say she’s probably unemployable.”
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s career prospects were at the center of their seven-week long defamation trial. While The Pirates of the Caribbean star claimed that Heard’s accusations and her op-ed had a “catastrophic” effect on his career, the latter argued that her professional life was negatively impacted by Depp’s counter allegations.
Everything to know about Megyn Kelly
Megyn Kelly is an American journalist, political commentator and former corporate defense attorney. She was associated with Fox News for 13 years before joining NBC News. Kelly has garnered a lot of recognition for her fierce reporting, and is remembered for challenging Donald Trump about his controversial comments on women.
The journalist was born to Linda and Edward Kelly on November 18, 1970, in Illinois. She attended Tecumseh Elementary School in DeWitt and then graduated from Bethlehem Central High School in Albany. Kelly earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Syracuse University in 1992, and received a J.D. from Albany Law School in 1995.
Kelly began her legal career as an associate at the Chicago office of Bickel & Brewer LLP. She also served as a corporate litigator at Jones Day for nine years before pursuing a career in journalism. She started working as a freelance assignment reporter for WJLA-TV in 2003, before joining Fox News as a Washington D.C. correspondent in 2004.
The reporter became the co-anchor of America’s Newsroom in 2006 and started hosting her own Kelly’s Court segment during Weekend Live under the network. Kelly bagged her own show, titled America Live, in 2010 and started hosting The Kelly File in 2013.
Kelly left Fox News in 2017 and joined NBC News in a “triple role.” The journalist began hosting her own program alongside a Sunday night news show. She also took part in the network's political and major news event coverage.
The media personality published her autobiography titled Settle for More with Harper Collins in 2016. The previous year, Kelly was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bethlehem Central High School.
