As the #MeToo motion fueled a public airing of sexual assault and misconduct allegations, defamation lawsuits shortly grew to become a instrument for each the accused and accusers to hunt retribution and redemption.
Men accused of misconduct have more and more turned to defamation fits to attempt to clear their names, as have victims accused of creating false allegations. But between the excessive prices of attorneys’ charges and the fears of showing embarrassing particulars in open court docket, many such circumstances are settled earlier than they ever attain trial.
The bitter authorized battle between the actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard was intently watched in half as a result of it was one of many highest-profile defamation circumstances to make it to trial lately, and a number of other attorneys mentioned that Mr. Depp’s victory in a Virginia court docket on Wednesday — when he was awarded greater than $10 million in damages — might embolden others accused of abuse or misconduct to attempt their luck with juries, regardless of the actual dangers of airing soiled laundry in public.
Ugly prices of bodily abuse and lurid testimony got here to outline the Depp-Heard trial, which included one line of questioning about precise soiled laundry: the couple’s fierce argument over how the sheets in a Los Angeles penthouse the place they had been staying had turn into befouled. But the jury discovered in the tip that Ms. Heard had defamed Mr. Depp in a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post in which she referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
“Some people will definitely look at this as a playbook for suing your accuser,” mentioned Charles Tobin, a First Amendment lawyer who practices in Fairfax, Va., the place the trial performed out over six weeks, and who briefly represented the previous employer of a witness known as in the Depp case. The proceedings had been broadcast and livestreamed far past the partitions of the courtroom.
The $10.35 million award to Mr. Depp was offset by a $2 million partial victory for Ms. Heard, who countersued Mr. Depp for defamation after a lawyer representing him made a number of statements to a British tabloid calling her abuse accusations a “hoax.” The jury didn’t discover two of these statements defamatory, however discovered {that a} third — in which the lawyer had accused Ms. Heard of damaging the couple’s penthouse and calling 911 “to set Mr. Depp up” — did defame her.
Mr. Depp praised the decision, saying that “the jury gave me my life back,” whereas Ms. Heard described it as “heartbreaking.”
The end result differed from that of a case in Britain, the place a decide had dominated two years in the past that there was proof that Mr. Depp had repeatedly assaulted Ms. Heard. That ruling got here in a libel go well with that Mr. Depp had filed after The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, known as him a “wife beater” in a headline. While Britain is usually thought of hospitable to libel circumstances, the decide who heard that case, Andrew Nicol, discovered that there was ample proof to conclude that many of the assaults Ms. Heard described had occurred, and he decided that what the newspaper had revealed was “substantially true.”
Several high-profile defamation circumstances in latest years have been settled earlier than they reached trial. In 2019, seven ladies who had accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault, after which sued him for defamation after they had been accused of mendacity, settled their claims; a spokesman for Mr. Cosby mentioned that his insurance coverage firm had determined to settle the circumstances with out his consent. And the on line casino mogul Steve Wynn recently agreed to a settlement of a defamation go well with he had filed towards the lawyer Lisa Bloom, who mentioned she would retract a press release accusing him of inappropriate habits involving a shopper.
In the wake of the Depp verdict, a number of attorneys and authorized specialists mentioned, folks accused of assault and misconduct could now be extra inclined to attempt to carry defamation circumstances to trial. And some advocacy organizations and attorneys fear that the case might have a chilling impact on the victims of home violence or sexual abuse, including to their fears that they might be punished for talking out.
“I do think that well-resourced individuals who feel slighted by speech that embarrassed or criticized them in some way may feel emboldened by this verdict,” mentioned Nicole Ligon, a First Amendment legislation professor who supplies professional bono authorized recommendation for folks contemplating going public with sexual misconduct accusations. “I imagine part of the reason they’ll feel emboldened is beyond the verdict itself but the public reaction to it.”
The trial was captured by two cameras in the courtroom that allowed the testimony to be packaged into memes and on-line commentary — a lot of which mocked Ms. Heard’s accusations of abuse. In an interview with NBC’s “Today” present on Thursday, certainly one of Ms. Heard’s attorneys, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, mentioned that the cameras had turned the trial right into a “zoo.”
Before the trial, Ms. Bredehoft had sought to steer the decide to dam cameras from the courtroom, arguing that Ms. Heard could be describing incidents of alleged sexual violence and predicting that “anti-Amber” networks would take statements out of context and play them repeatedly.
“The potential for saturation of an unsequestered jury is a tremendous risk in this case,” Ms. Bredehoft argued, in accordance with a court docket transcript from February.
Judge Penney S. Azcarate ordered that cameras be allowed, sustaining that Ms. Bredehoft’s argument about victims of sexual offenses would solely pertain to prison trials. The decide prompt that permitting cameras might make the courthouse “safer” by giving a broader viewers of viewers entry to the case remotely.
Mr. Depp could have received a victory in court docket, however it could take greater than that to revive his profession, or for Walt Disney Studios, which has solid Mr. Depp in a number of starring roles, to get again into enterprise with him.
The studio declined to remark, however two Disney executives privately pointed to his field workplace monitor report as the first motive: None of his Disney films have succeeded outdoors of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise since “Alice in Wonderland” in 2010. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” was a misfire in 2016, taking in 70 % lower than its predecessor worldwide. “The Lone Ranger” was a big-budget bomb in 2013. Except as Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates” movies, he has not been a field workplace draw lately.
Johnny Depp’s Libel Case Against Amber Heard
In the courtroom. A defamation trial involving the previously married actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard simply concluded in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia. Here is what to know in regards to the case:
As for the “Pirates” franchise, Disney determined lengthy earlier than the trial to half methods with Mr. Depp and reboot the collection, which, whereas nonetheless formidable on the field workplace, had been in decline in North America, falling 20 % to 30 % with every installment. Mr. Depp additionally wore out his welcome with tardiness and different points that got here out on the trial, the place a former expertise agent testified that he wore an earpiece on set in order that his strains might be fed to him.
But Mr. Depp’s victory — which a lawyer for Ms. Heard mentioned she would enchantment — could appear enticing to accused litigants who’re desperately looking for an identical redemption arc, mentioned Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer whose agency frequently defends folks accused of sexual misconduct. Right after the Depp-Heard verdict was introduced, Mr. Miltenberg mentioned, he acquired a few dozen emails from purchasers asking him if it will profit their circumstances.
“I can see people saying, ‘I need that kind of victory to get my life back on track,’” mentioned Mr. Miltenberg.
Several massive defamation circumstances are nonetheless pending. E. Jean Carroll, who sued former President Donald J. Trump after he mentioned that she had lied about his raping her. The actress Ashley Judd’s defamation lawsuit towards the producer Harvey Weinstein has been on maintain throughout his prison proceedings in California. She sued after studying {that a} director mentioned that Mr. Weinstein’s studio, Miramax, had described her as a “nightmare to work with.”
Several attorneys famous that Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard’s battle was so advanced and singular in its degree of public spectacle that folks must be cautious of drawing any lasting conclusions about how their very own authorized proceedings would unfold.
“This is a unique case of public figures airing their private dirty laundry,” mentioned Joseph Cammarata, a lawyer who represented the Cosby accusers in their defamation case. “It should not dissuade someone who has a legitimate case from seeking justice.”
Brooks Barnes and Graham Bowley contributed reporting.
