The Washington Post Adds Editor's Note To Amber Heard's 2018 Op-Ed After Defamation Verdict

The Washington Post has included an important editor's note to the 2018 op-ed written by Amber Heard in which she spoke out about abuse.

In 2018, Heard wrote an opinion piece for the newspaper titled: 'Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.'

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In her article, the actress writes how she "was exposed to abuse at a very young age" and later went on to become "a public figure representing domestic abuse" back in 2016.

After the piece was published, Disney announced that Johnny Depp will no longer be appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Disney never stated that the op-ed resulted in this decision, but instead wanted "to bring in a new energy and vitality" to the franchise, per Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Sean Bailey.

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During the defamation trial, Depp's legal team told the court that Heard's article on domestic violence referenced her relationship with Depp and the repercussions this article had a disastrous impact on Depp's career and personal life.

It is because of this article that Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife and told the court at the beginning of the trial that he does not worry about the outcome of the trial but he wants the world to know the truth. 

On Wednesday, the jury announced in the Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom that it has ruled unanimously in favor of Depp, and the actor was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages of $5 million (later reduced to $350,000 per Virginia state law).

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Following the verdict, The Washington Post has added the following editor's note to Heard's 2018 piece:

"In 2019, Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for defamation arising out of this 2018 op-ed. On June 1, 2022, following a trial in Fairfax County, Va. Circuit Court, a jury found Heard liable on three counts for the following statements, which Depp claimed were false and defamatory..."

The three statements made by Heard in the piece now flagged by the editor are the title of the article - "I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change"- as well as the comments "Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out," and "I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse."

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The editor's note adds that the jury also found that Depp - through his former attorney Adam Waldman - also defamed Heard, which led to her being awarded $2 million per her counterclaim.

Waldman had claimed that Heard's allegations against Depp were "fake" and "a hoax".

Following the verdict, on June 3, The Washington Post published another opinion piece from media critic Erik Wemple, titled: 'Depp-Heard case hinged on the world’s worst #MeToo op-ed'.

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