Both Depp, 59, and Heard, 36, had accused each other of domestic violence during their six-week trial, which aired live on TV and online and spurred fan-made video clips to go viral. While ruling that the actress defamed her ex with her article, the Virginia jury also ruled in her favor on one counterclaim against her ex, ordering him to pay her $2 million in damages because his lawyer called her accusations a “hoax.” 

Heard filed her first accusations against Depp during her 2016 divorce. In a statement issued following his legal victory, he said, “Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people, who for many, many years have supported and believed in my were forever changed. It was all in a flash.

Depp stated that the false allegations had “triggered an inexorable barrage of hateful material.” Depp said, “It was already traveling around the globe twice in a nanosecond. It had an enormous impact on me and my career.” Six years later, I was given my life by the jury. “I am deeply humbled.”