All Episodes
Previous Next
Plain Text
June 1, 2022 - Uncensored - Piers Morgan
57:00
20220601_piers-morgan-uncensored-johnny-depp-amber-heard-ve
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
|

Time Text
High-Stakes Verdict for Johnny Depp 00:11:53
Lisa, can you hear me?
Yes, I can.
Hello, Piers.
Lisa, great to talk to you.
We're about to get this verdict.
How important is the verdict in this case?
I think it's very important.
This is the most high-profile domestic violence case that any of us has ever seen.
And as somebody who represents many, many women in cases of sexual misconduct and abuse, I know that my clients are all watching this very closely.
They're hoping that Amber Heard is going to get justice.
Do you think she should win, Amber Heard?
Because I mean, I'll give you my honest, unfettered take on this.
I found both of them pretty repellent.
I have to say, the more lurid the details that have come out, it's almost like a stain on all their houses and on ours, frankly, for gorging over this stuff.
But do you believe that she's A, credible and that B, she's a genuine victim?
I do on both of those.
I think she also had some abusive acts that she committed herself.
There's no question about it.
But who was the one who was wealthier, physically stronger?
Sorry, I think we just lost you there, Lisa.
Keep going.
Okay, somebody was talking to me.
Sorry.
So I think he was the one who's more powerful, physically stronger, bigger, wealthier.
And when you look at some of his texts where he talks about wanting to murder her and have sex with her dead body, that shows you the kind of person he is.
He's the one that brought this case.
He's the one that's responsible for both of them being in the courtroom, airing their dirty laundry in front of the whole world.
He failed to call off his army of trolls that was so cruel and threatening to her on social media throughout the whole case.
So yes, I think he's the primary perpetrator here and she's the primary victim.
And last thing I'll say is, you know, this is just a defamation case about whether her saying in an article that she was a representative of domestic violence, whether that's defamatory.
She would only have to win one incident to win the case.
So I think she's in the better position.
Lisa, just hold fire there for a moment.
I want to bring in Lady Victoria because you were actually at Jeff Beck's concert last night, the Albert Hall, where Johnny Depp is here in London and he went on stage.
He played with his great friend Jeff Beck.
He got good reviews actually for how he played.
He's still here, we think.
He's not at the courtroom.
She's gone to the courtroom, Amber Heard, and apparently her people are already saying, well, doesn't this say it all?
He's gallivanting on a rock concert over there.
I think we've got live footage from the courtroom.
Let me just hold fire here.
I think we may have the judge coming into the courtroom.
So we'll get a verdict any moment and we'll go live when we get it.
Maybe listen just to see what the judge is.
I'm sure everybody in the gallery reminded us that this is a court of law.
And regardless of the verdict, I will not tolerate any outbursts whatsoever.
Okay.
Thank you.
We're just looking live here at the courtroom in the United States where the verdict in the Johnny Depp Amber Heard case is about to be announced.
The judge is now in the courtroom, so it's going to be here imminently.
I think that is the verdict literally being handed now.
Let's go back to the courtroom and the judge.
If I could have the attorney's approach for a moment.
Well, that is Amber Heard there.
We're still waiting for this result to be announced.
She's there.
Johnny Depp's not.
He's here in London.
And her people have already been briefing that they think that speaks volumes, that she's bothered to turn up for the verdict.
And Johnny Depp has not.
But they were both told they didn't have to be there by the judge.
So this is not something Johnny Depp has done wrong necessarily.
But Amber Heard's people saying it's telling the jury.
All right, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what I need you to do, I need to give the forms back to you.
When you find it for a defamatory statement, one or more, you need to fill out the compensatory damages.
It has to be at least a dollar for compensatory damages and up to whatever you feel the damages should be.
And for punitive damages, you can put a zero there or you can fill out that as well.
But I'd need those lines filled out, okay?
All right, so if I can have you retire back to the I think what's happened there is the jury, I think, have been told to go out and work out what damages they should be giving whoever has won this case.
That's till we hear back from them.
Don't go too far, okay?
Thank you.
Yeah, so I think that's what's happened here is I think that the jury have been told, right, go out.
You can give naught dollars, the judge said, damages, if you believe that basically the case has been won by other party, but you don't believe, having heard all the evidence as a jury, that they deserve any money from this.
It is a civil case, not a criminal case.
So they've gone off.
They're literally going to put on the document that the judge has asked them to address, they're going to put a figure.
And that figure will, of course, they already know what their verdict is.
So that figure will be how much they think the person that they've decided has won this.
Remember, Johnny Depp has brought the action against Amber Heard.
She's brought a counter action.
But it may be, of course, that you get a verdict and no one gets a dollar, which in itself would be a telling statement from the jury.
Let's go back here.
Let me just ask Lisa on the legal point.
Lisa, just, I think you're there, Lisa.
Yes, I'm here.
Just to ask you about what's going on here, I think I heard that right, that the judges sent them off to basically put down in writing what they think the damages should be.
Yes, absolutely.
So we don't know who won.
Somebody won.
Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for defamation, for saying that she was a representative of domestic abuse.
She then counter-sued him for $100 million for basically calling her a liar.
So one of them has won.
We don't know which one it is, but whoever won, so far they have won zero dollars because the jury somehow has failed to fill in the part of the form that says how much the damages would be.
So as you say, Piers, you're correct.
It could be $1.
It could be $1 million.
It could be $100 million.
I don't know how the jury failed to do that.
I'm a little concerned about this jury.
If they failed to fill that out on the form.
But anyway, they now have to go back in and figure that out.
That's the thing.
Let me ask you, Lisa, on the work could take hours and hours.
Right.
And on the issue of the damages, if they were to come back with naught.
Say they found for Johnny Depp, for argument's sake, and they come back with naught dollars damages.
Or conversely, they come back with 10 million or 20 million.
You want it?
100 million.
If they come back with nothing or a very big amount, what does that say about the jury's thinking?
Well, they can't come back with nothing.
It has to be at least $1.
That's what the judge just instructed them.
But $1 is effectively nothing.
Then I think what they would be saying is whoever won, okay, technically you won, but we don't really like you.
We don't really like your case.
And we just, you won, but we're not going to give you very much.
That's very significant.
Of course, a big number would show that the person who won really has suffered a lot emotionally.
You know, Johnny Depp says his career tanked after Amber Heard made these comments about him.
This was a big dispute in the trial about whether his career was tanking anyway or whether it's because of her allegations.
So it's going to be very interesting to see which party won and how much money they win ultimately.
Okay, let me come back to Lady Victoria Harvey.
You were at this concert last night.
Johnny Depp was there.
And I think you went to the after party and Kate Moss was there and Sharon Osborne, who we hope to speak to as well.
What's the mood around Johnny Depp about all this?
I mean, for him, like what I sort of learned about him is his sort of therapy is music.
And I think for him, he wanted to take his mind off, you know, the stress of the trial.
And the opportunity came up for him to play with Jeff Beck.
And music's his passion.
Do you think he's a victim, Johnny Depp?
I do.
Like in this case, from what I know from Amber's past and, you know, experiences of meeting her ex and knowing that she did hit her and beat her up.
You know, it's she's not, you know, innocent.
Obviously, it was a volatile relationship and Johnny had a, you know, alcohol problem and that, but he's not a violent person.
He does, I mean, some of the texts are disgusting when he talks about her corpse and what he wants to do and so on.
People can say things.
I don't know anyone that would actually talk about setting fire to their wife's corpse.
I mean, it was pretty depraved stuff he was coming out with.
I think it was quite a passionate relationship.
You don't think so, really colleagues?
You know, he's an artist, right?
So he writes.
They don't have to be depraved, do they?
You're bristling.
I think it's figures of speech.
I think he was in the heat of the moment, you say something.
I want to set fire to my wife's corpse.
Well, quite frankly, the way she behaved, I'm not surprised he said things like that.
Really?
Well, yeah, actually.
I thought her behavior was beyond disgusting.
I mean, who takes a crap on someone's bed and tries to blame a Yoki when it's what he says.
No, no, no.
It's well known.
There's a lot of stuff.
Take it, you're a royal expert, but you're also...
Why am I even?
No, you're also a journalist.
I did do show this.
I did do showbiz at the mail on Sunday.
Quite an idea.
I mean, I can't do it.
What's your take on this case?
Oh, my gosh.
I think the whole thing is so tawdry.
And just, I don't see, apart from the lawyers, actually, who are the winners, I don't see that there are any winners in all of this.
She comes off appallingly.
He comes off appallingly.
It's just really debased and really.
Yeah, I feel that.
And I know, funny enough, I know people who know Johnny Depp really well.
Joan Collins talks very highly about a time that she met him.
Catherine Jenkins, her husband, made a movie with Johnny Depp recently.
He talks very highly about him.
A lot of people say he's actually a good guy.
I met him years ago.
I think it was at the Canon Film Festival.
And he was charming.
And he was lovely.
But then, you know, you never know what goes on behind closed doors.
We do know what we're doing.
Yeah, and she said him up.
Like, I mean, he had an alcohol problem, and she would put like ice cream on him and take photos.
Like, who does that?
And also, also, tellingly, with her numerous tapings over the years, not once does she get him striking her.
Historic Jubilee Amidst Legal Drama 00:02:59
Right.
But she's on tape, on tape.
And there is tape of her striking him, right?
To hit her.
I mean, it's obviously a very toxic.
Just any of you who are tuning in, we're waiting for the verdict.
The jury's been sent back out because they're now actually assessing what damages they will give.
So here is the courtroom.
Jury's not there at the moment.
We will go live the moment that jury comes back in.
They're just working out how much they want to give the person that they have found for.
So we don't know if they found for Johnny Depp or Amber Heard, but the judge has said to everyone, stay close, stay in the courtroom.
This shouldn't take long.
A little incompetent, I might suggest, of this jury.
They had two jobs, verdict and damages, and they forgot half of them.
But they've been told to go out and do that.
And it's live, and this is what happens in Breaking News.
We'll bring it to you the moment we can.
What we've got a moment before we get this verdict, let's pivot slightly to the Platinum Jubilee, which is really what you were all three booked to come and talk about.
It's going to be massive tomorrow, Katie.
We've covered a lot of raw things.
We covered the last Jubilee.
We've covered weddings together.
We did.
I'm going to be there covering it for Fox live.
And it's going to be an amazing event.
I'm excited because sadly, it will be the last Jubilee that we ever see with this monarch.
She's the longest reigning.
She's the oldest of our monarchs.
And in my estimation, she's the greatest.
Well, it's certainly going to be the only platinum jubilee that any of us are going to celebrate.
That we can say with certainty.
I was down there all day today with CBC for Canada, who I'm co-anchoring with.
I'm with the BBC tomorrow.
The mood down there is one of real excitement.
The crowds are just beginning to gather on the mound.
People are already queuing overnight.
There are people camping.
My mother camped on the mall for Diana's wedding.
And Fergie's wedding.
She camped overnight.
I mean, we got mad monarch gives you a moment.
Listen, when it comes to royal fans, the madness has no bounds.
And they want to be there to witness this moment.
So I think it is going to be a very historic occasion.
I think we absolutely will see the Queen tomorrow.
Because remember, there's been uncertainty about how much we're going to see her.
I mean, let's think back to 2012.
She was very present.
She was there for everything.
I think I'm told we may see two sightings on the balcony is what people have.
I think that's what we can probably expect.
But as Buckingham Palace has said, until the morning of the day itself, we just have to wait and see.
But I think she's going to absolutely want to be there for trooping.
This is something that her father brought that fly past to the balcony.
It's been happening since Queen Victoria.
She's going to want to be there.
And she's going to want to be there for the service of Thanksgiving.
But I think what's going to be very interesting is...
Even well, to me, that's going to be even the more fascinating one because you're going to see Megan and Harry, who apparently have just got back into London today and gone to Frogmore Cottage.
On a private jet.
One act.
Was it a private jet?
One act of compassion followed by one act of a private jet at a time.
Do you know it was a private jet?
Yes.
Oh, you do?
In Farnborough.
Well, if it was a private jet, this is such brave.
Splitting Hairs Over Medical Terms 00:02:48
I mean, the levels of hypocrisy of these two never cease to astound.
If they've literally, these two eco-warriors have come in on a private jet, words fail me.
Let's talk about them in a moment.
Let's talk, though, about Prince Andrew, the elephant in the room, quite literally.
We don't know if we're even going to see him tomorrow or at the Thanksgiving service.
I would imagine we may at some stage because the Queen, remember, asked Andrew to escort her down the aisle when we had Prince Philip's Vemora, which everyone was shocked to see, a statement by the Queen of support for her son.
You two, I think, share a view that Andrew is, you know, he's been mistreated, that he's somehow a victim in all this, right?
He is, he is, he's undoubtedly been victimized.
Why has he paid millions of dollars to a woman who accused him of illegal sexual assault?
There we disagree, because your sources say a certain figure.
My sources say that.
Well, actually, they have never even said the amount.
Let me just, for the record, I know for an unequivocal fact it is millions and millions of dollars.
It's not even a question of debate.
I know it's millions and millions, up to 10 million, right?
So this was a massive check which he has paid, having said to the world, I'm going to court, I'm going to clear my name, I'm going to clear my name, and then he paid a check.
He doesn't admit liability, but he pays a massive check and doesn't clear his name.
Well, he wasn't allowed to.
That was a problem because it would have taken away, you know, the Jubilee celebrations and it would have been ongoing and it was something that he didn't really have a choice in.
He had to make the sacrifice for his mother and he did.
And, you know, I think he should be commended.
Oh, come on.
Commended?
Yes, he should be.
What's his crime?
He stops.
Well, I'll tell you what his alleged crime was.
His alleged crime was.
I'll tell you what we know for a fact is that after Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire paedophile, right, who we can all...
He's not a pedophile, he's an ephebophile.
Do get your facts.
Well, he was actually a convicted paedophile.
No.
Ephebophile.
He solicited a minor for prostitution.
A paedophile is pre-pubescent.
A hebophile is transitional.
And post-pubescent is a febophile.
These are the things that are in the city.
Are you familiar with medical terms?
Are you familiar with the phrase splitting hairs?
I'm not splitting hairs.
If you die of cancer of the liver, you don't die of cancer of the brain.
Here's my point about this.
He was convicted, Epstein, in 2008 or 9 of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
And Andrew still carried on spending time with him at his New York home with women coming and going after the conviction.
So whatever view you take of it all, that is indisputable.
That was a mistake, and he should have been protected by agents and I. Just hold one sec.
Movie Stars and Jury Deliberations 00:03:36
We're just going back to the court.
It's 8.15.
We're live here at the courtroom for the verdict in the Depp Heard civil trial.
Just to recap, Johnny Depp is suing three counts of defamation against his former wife, Amber Heard, seeking $100 million in damages, saying that his, and she in return is seeking $100 million.
I'm sorry.
He's suing for $50 million.
She counter-sued for $100 million.
And we're waiting for the verdict from the jury.
They were supposed to give the verdict a few minutes ago, but they forgot to put on the bit of paper for the judge how much they were going to be giving in damages.
So they'll be sent off by the judge who's a bit annoyed to go and do that.
So we're going to come back to this when we get the jury back in the room, which could be any moment.
So we'll come back to that.
Let me just come back to you, Katie, about the Prince Andrew case, because if he does pop up tomorrow, for example, or if he pops up in the St. Paul's Cathedral, it's going to be such a huge moment, which could overshadow everything else.
It could, but then the Sussexes, with Lilibeck, could also overshadow this Jubilee.
I mean, you've got...
The thing is, with the narrative of the Platinum Jubilee, which should totally be centered on Her Majesty the Queen, you have got these sort of subsidiary stories which have created scandalous headlines for the past two, three years or longer in the case of Andrew.
And, you know, I think it, well, the court is in a very difficult position, really.
They can't control the narrative.
I think let's hope the Sussex is.
I'm just going to let you know if we have to go live.
Well, we're just doing a few little exciting whooshes.
There's actually nothing happening at the moment.
Just tell me to shut up.
Here's the phone you.
But let's...
I've tell you what we've got.
We've got Julia Janae from Court TV.
Julia, just can you hear me, Julia?
I can hear you.
Great to be with you.
Great to see you.
Just very quickly, recap for us what's going on right now in that courtroom.
Well, we learned about an hour and a half ago that the jury reached a verdict.
But the thing of the matter is, that verdict form doesn't get shown to the judge until that verdict was about to be read into the record, three o'clock Eastern here, eight o'clock where you are.
But when the jurors actually came into the courtroom and the judge looked at that paper, she noticed something wrong and she asked the attorneys to come up.
We don't know exactly what she told to them, but she said to these jurors, you have to do it.
As I'm speaking to you, Julia, I've got to leave it there, Julia, because we have got the judge back.
It looks like we're about to get more comments from a judge.
Listen to this.
So the judge, Penny Askerati, is a former Marine, is now back in the courtroom.
The jury are coming back in.
Amber Heard is there.
She's standing up waiting for this verdict, which could be, of course, life-changing for her and Johnny Depp.
He's not there.
He's here in London.
He was on stage with Jeff Beck last night at the Royal Albert Hall, playing his guitar and singing with his old friend.
Amber Heard's people making a big play of that, saying if it means that much to him, why is he gallivanting on stage in London and not here for the verdict?
But the judge did say they didn't have to be there if they didn't want to.
But this is a moment that's going to define really, I think, the futures for both of these people.
Defamation Claims Against Amber Heard 00:08:37
Two big movie stars, Johnny Depp, one of the biggest movie stars in history.
If he was to lose this case, I would argue that his Hollywood career may be over.
Let's go to the judge.
All right, is it unanimous?
Thank you, sir.
Jamie in civil case number CL 2019-2911.
Mr. Depp's claim against Ms. Hurd.
One, as to the statement appearing in the online op-ed entitled Amber Heard, I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture's wrath.
That has to change.
In the Washington Post online edition, quote, I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture's wrath.
That has to change, end quote.
Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation?
Answer, yes.
Has Mr. Depp proven by a greater weight of the evidence that, question, the statement was made or published by Ms. Hurd?
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was about Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Question: The statement was false.
Answer, yes.
Question: The statement has a defamatory implication about Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Question: The defamatory implication was designed and intended by Ms. Hurd.
Answer, yes.
Question: Due to circumstances surrounding the publication of the statement, it conveyed a defamatory implication to someone who saw it other than Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Hurd acted with actual malice?
Answer, yes.
Two, as to the statement appearing in the op-ed entitled A Transformative Moment for Women in the Washington Post print edition and the online op-ed, Amber Heard, I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture's wrath.
That has to change in the Washington Post online edition.
Quote, 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, end quote.
Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation?
Answer, yes.
Has Mr. Depp proven by a greater weight of the evidence that, question, the statement was made or published by Ms. Hurd?
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was about Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was false.
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement has a defamatory implication about Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Question, the defamatory implication was designed and intended by Ms. Hurd.
Answer, yes.
Question, due to circumstances surrounding the publication of the statement, it conveyed a defamatory implication to someone who saw it other than Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Hurd acted with actual malice?
Answer, yes.
Three, as to the statement appearing in the op-ed entitled A Transformative Moment for Women in the Washington Post print edition and the online op-ed, Amber Heard, I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture's wrath.
That has to change.
In the Washington Post online edition.
Quote, I had the rare vantage point of seeing in real time how institutions protect men accused of abuse.
End quote.
Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation?
Answer, yes.
Has Mr. Depp proven by a greater weight of the evidence that question, the statement was made or published by Ms. Hurd?
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was about Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was false.
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement has a defamatory implication about Mr. Depp.
Answer, yes.
Question, the defamatory implication was designed and intended by Ms. Hurd.
Answer, yes.
Question, due to circumstances surrounding the publication of this statement, it conveyed a defamatory implication to someone who saw it other than Mr. Depp?
Answer, yes.
Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Hurd acted with actual malice?
Answer, yes.
As against Amber Heard, we the jury award compensatory damages in the amount of $10 million.
As against Amber Heard, we the jury award punitive damages in the amount of $5 million.
In civil case number CL 2019-2911, Ms. Hurd's claim against Mr. Depp.
1.
As to this statement appearing in the April 8, 2020 online edition of the Daily Mail, quote, Amber Heard and her friends in the media use fake sexual violence allegations as both a sword and shield depending on their needs.
They have selected some of her sexual violence hoax facts as the sword, inflicting them on the public and Mr. Depp.
Do you find that Ms. Hurd has proven all the elements of defamation?
Answer, no.
Two, as to this statement appearing in the April 27, 2020 online edition of the Daily Mail, quote, quite simply, this was an ambush, a hoax.
They set Mr. Depp up by calling the cops, but the first attempt did not do the trick.
The officers came to the penthouses, thoroughly searched and interviewed, and left after seeing no damage to face or property.
So Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their story straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist, and then placed a second call to 911, end quote.
Do you find that Ms. Hurd has proven all the elements of defamation?
Answer, yes.
Has Ms. Hurd proven by a greater weight of the evidence that, question, Mr. Waldman, while acting as an agent for Mr. Depp, made or published the statement?
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was about Ms. Hurd.
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was seen by someone other than Ms. Hurd.
Answer, yes.
Question, the statement was false.
Answer, yes.
Do you find that Ms. Hurd has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the statement by Mr. Waldman was made with actual malice?
Answer, yes.
Three, as to this statement appearing in the April 27, 2020 online edition of the Daily Mail, quote, we've reached the beginning of the end of Ms. Hurd's abuse hoax against Johnny Depp, end quote.
Do you find that Ms. Hurd has proven all the elements of defamation?
Answer, no.
As against John C. Depp II, we the jury award compensatory damages in the amount of $2 million.
Final Damages Awarded to Depp 00:09:04
As against John C. Depp II, we the jury award punitive damages in the amount of zero dollars.
Does either side wish to have the jury pull?
Yes, Your Honor.
Jamie?
Members of the jury, if this is your verdict, please answer yes.
If this is not your verdict, please answer no.
Juror number six.
Juror number 10.
Yes.
Juror number 15.
Yes.
Juror number 16.
Yes.
Juror number 22.
Yes.
Juror number 27.
Juror number 29.
Yes.
I do find that the jury's verdict is unanimous.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your service in this case.
I want to thank you again for your dedication and your hard work during this trial.
I know I speak for everybody here when I appreciate, tell you that we appreciate your sacrifices and your time and your public service in this matter.
Okay?
So I'm going to have you go back to the jury deliberation room for one more time and then we'll release you from there.
Okay?
All right.
Thank you.
Okay, well, a complete slam-dunk victory for Johnny Depp in that defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Disaster for Amber Heard because Johnny Depp has not only won on every count of this case and proved the defamation was done against him by his ex-wife, but he's been awarded a total of $15 million, including $5 million in punitive damages.
So this is a wipeout for Amber Heard.
It's a complete vindication for Johnny Depp.
Let's go back to Lisa Bloom.
Lisa, you were not expecting this and you didn't think it was the right result.
But what do you make of that verdict by the jury?
Well, I always have to respect a jury's verdict.
They were in that courtroom week after week, listening to every detail of the evidence.
I was not.
And we certainly don't want false statements made about people.
But my heart really goes out to Amber Heard.
I think there were a number of incidents where she appears to have been a victim.
She's there in the courtroom having to take it.
I have many clients who I represent who get threatened with defamation cases if they speak out publicly.
So they're afraid to tell their stories publicly.
And I just think it's a very sad day.
I mean, it's obviously a sad day for her.
For Johnny Depp, it's a massively significant day.
Let me come to my panel.
Lady Colin, I mean, for Johnny Depp, this would have ended his career, I think, irreparably.
Destroyed it.
But this has retrieved.
Well, it means the jury believed him and they thought Amber Heard was lying.
And they also believed that Johnny Depp was the real victim here, not her.
What do you make of that?
Well, I'll tell you, I am personally invested in this case because Amber Heard did to Johnny Depp exactly what my ex-husband did to me.
After they're through pummeling you with their fists and you leave, they use the newspapers and the television stations to pummel you.
So it is a beating by another form.
And I recognized very early on because I was looking at a lot of it that she is an abuser.
And you know, that's certainly, look, that is certainly the view that the jury has come to.
And it's hard to imagine a bigger humiliation for Amber Heard.
You're seeing the legal teams there all hugging each other.
Johnny Depp's jubilant, of course.
Amber Heard's not jubilant at all.
It's a complete disaster and failure.
She's left the courtroom.
And I'd imagine will be incredibly upset.
We've been joined now on the phone by Sharon Osborne, who actually I think was a talk TV presenter, of course, was actually at the Alber Hall yesterday where Jeff Beck was playing and knows Johnny Depp.
Sharon, what do you make of the verdict?
Wow, it wasn't what I was expecting.
I mean, I wanted Johnny to win, but I wasn't expecting him to.
You've been in a...
I was going to say, Sharon, I mean, I've known you and Ozzy a long time.
You've spoken very honestly before about toxic times in your marriage over the years, mutually abusive and so on.
What did you make of the case here?
What did you make of both sides?
Did any of it resonate with you that it was just a toxic relationship and that unlike you and Ozzie, who did resolve everything, they couldn't?
It's for me, it was, I related to it so much.
And, you know, I know alcoholic behavior inside out and backwards.
And it's alcoholic behavior.
But, you know, they were both abusive, both very, very abusive to each other.
And at any time, she could have left.
And she wasn't a little wallflower.
You know, she was a mover and shaker in town.
I mean, look who she went with right after him.
So she wasn't some innocent little wallflower.
She knows the game.
She knows how it goes.
And the situation is, you know, now, I mean, after listening and hearing about all their dirty laundry, you know, she, Some of me, as a woman, I feel badly for her because every penny she earns is going to go someplace not in her bank account.
Right.
I mean, this is, I mean, this is not an insignificant.
I mean, this is 15 million dollars.
I'm not even sure that she has money.
Remember, she's got to pay the tax on that too.
So double it.
Right.
I mean, this is, it's a huge, it's a huge disaster for her, isn't it?
In terms of Johnny Depp, a huge, huge.
And Sharon, do you think Johnny Depp, with your manager hat on, is there a way back now for Johnny Depp?
If he'd lost this, I think his Hollywood career was done.
But has he been so damaged in the process of not just this case, but the libel action against the son here in England, which he lost, of course.
Has he been so damaged by the revelations that it's almost impossible now to put him back in a big movie?
No, it's not impossible.
And everybody loves a comeback.
And the thing is, his case before was in England.
This was done in front of an American jury.
And I think that he's going to get his career back.
Yeah, I mean...
I really do.
I think, you know, I think that all the great big filmmakers will want Johnny because now they've seen, listen, when it comes down to it, it's how strong an audience do you have.
And Johnny Depp has a huge worldwide audience.
And there's no doubt also, Sharon, that he's no doubt that he won in the court of public opinion on social media, was massively in favor of Johnny Depp.
Now, some might argue that it got very vicious towards Amber Heard, and I'm not sure that that is ever a good thing.
In fact, Monica Lewinsky has written a big piece for Vanity Fair tonight, talking about this turning into kind of courtroom porn, where we're all gorging on the entrails of this divorce.
But you know, there's always people out there that want to be vicious about people they don't even know.
It's perception, not reality.
And, you know, you're always going to get your haters that come out and want to have a voice.
But the thing is, Johnny, you know, he's got a huge price on his head.
The world loves him.
The world loves him.
So, you know, the world really did want him to win.
And he's won.
And that's it.
She could have, she could have, you know, backed out somehow.
She could have got to him.
There could have been something to say going on.
They could have.
Because he is.
He would have.
She wouldn't have gone this far if she, if she, you know, didn't push and push and push.
And she won the case in England, but yet she wanted more.
Well, yeah, I mean, technically.
Technically, she wasn't involved in that England case.
He sued the son for libel and lost, but she was the kind of secondary winner because they concluded that he had abused her.
This is a big, big case in America.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I mean, I think that the other thing about...
I was going to say, Sharon, the other thing about this is that, you know, for Amber Heard, she's an actress, but I don't think she's going to get any work after this, is she?
Because the jury actually concluded that she acted with malice.
In other words, that she has deliberately lied here about him to damage him.
Listen, she's lied.
She was in the court in England and she lied under oath in England when she said that she'd given her 7 million to charity and she hadn't.
And Elon Musk had made a donation under her name of a pittance of what it should have been.
So she lied under oath.
So that wasn't looking good for her.
And the thing is, no, I don't think that any big film studio will touch her right now.
Career Ruin and Corroborative Evidence 00:15:23
Just finally, Sharon, you know Johnny Depp, Sharon.
You know, a lot of people whose opinion I respect, you know, Joan Collins and Catherine Jenkins, a singer whose husband made Johnny's last movie, they talk very highly of him and believe that he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice throughout all this process.
And tonight, I'm sure, are feeling very happy for him.
But for those who don't know Johnny Depp, what is he like?
He is a gentle soul.
I can tell you last night, Piers, he spent about 45 minutes in his dressing room on his knees talking to this little girl that was reading her diary to him.
Now, I don't know many guys that would sit there and do that.
There weren't any cameras around.
There were no film crews.
He did it because he's a gentle soul.
He wanted this little girl to read the diary to him, and she did.
She must have been all of eight years of age.
And the thing is, he is a gentle soul, but we know what alcohol and drugs do when you mix them together.
They change you.
You know, sometimes I suppose, you know, he lost his rag, but as a human being, he's a good human being.
Sharon, really appreciate you calling in.
Thank you very much indeed.
It's a dramatic night, certainly, for all the people involved in this.
And you bring a great perspective.
Thank you very much.
All right.
Thanks, my darling.
Bye.
Well, join me now as legal analyst Mark Garagos.
Mark, good to talk to you.
We've talked many times over the years in dramatic court cases.
There haven't been many more dramatic than this and a result that may shock a lot of people.
Well, I don't know that it's shocking to me because if I had been advising him, I wouldn't have advised him to go through this.
It seemed like a fool's errand, but obviously he got a verdict.
But people should understand what happened here.
He got $10 million in compensatory.
He got 5 million in punitives.
The judge immediately reduced the 5 million to 350.
She got 2 million.
But I will tell you, I'm not so sure that this stands up to scrutiny on appeal.
Remember, he was suing for her statement that was ghostwritten for her in the Washington Post.
The fact is, she never mentioned him, number one.
And number two, she was held liable for the headline, which she retweeted.
I think courts are going to have a appellate courts are going to have a real tough time with that.
And from her standpoint, she was suing for what his then lawyer said.
So the case is there's a lot of kind of legal or liability by proxy, if you will, in this case.
And it is surprising.
I'm with you, Pierce.
I wouldn't have expected a jury to have come back with these kinds of numbers, 10 on one side or 10,300 on one side and 2 million on the other.
But it sure seems like it was a lot of effort for, I don't know what, because ultimately I don't know that it stands up.
And when they say that she acted with actual malice, that's basically saying we think she deliberately lied.
Yes, in order to get malice, you have to, that's your mental state.
That is the jury saying, based on everything we heard, the totality of the evidence, we are inferring that she acted with the intention to do harm to him.
And, you know, so yes, that's going to come back, obviously.
And it did come back to find her liable and for her to have to pay more money than he has to pay her.
Mark Garagos, as always, great analysis.
Thank you very much indeed.
I appreciate it.
Come back to my panel.
Lady Victoria, I mean, you know Johnny Depp.
You know, Kate Moss was there last night.
You know, Kate Moss is a whole group of people around Johnny Depp who've been willing this verdict to happen.
Do you think he can make a comeback?
I mean, he's not exactly in his sort of youth anymore as a leading man anyway.
How damaged has he been by the details?
I mean, he's one of the biggest stars in the world.
So, yeah, of course, he's going to have a comeback.
I think a lot of people have been rooting for him.
They've been seeing through the whole Amber Heard facade of lies.
And that's what the jury, I mean, they've been emphatic.
I mean, she acted with malice and they've awarded $15 million to Johnny Depp.
That means they think she's a massive liar.
Yeah, she was vicious in her attack.
It was very, you know, planned strategically.
You know, she wanted to harm him.
She wanted to ruin his career.
Do you know what I was thinking, Katie, about this?
That imagine if we'd actually, we're talking about Prince Andrew earlier settling his civil case.
What's a civil situation?
Well, one of the reasons I'm sure that he came under huge pressure from the Queen down to settle it was precisely because could you imagine a case like this involving the Queen's second son in a sex assault case?
I mean, it would have been, it would have made this look like a tea party.
Yeah, it would have made it look like a tea party.
And I think there was really no option but for Andrew to settle.
And we're talking about him writing this check.
I'm sure very much it wasn't his money that he wasn't his money, yeah.
Paying it off.
But yes, I mean, you just can't imagine that sort of high court.
We've got pictures.
Just want to stop you there.
We've got pictures of Johnny Depp.
He's at a pub in Newcastle.
Of course he is.
I would imagine that Jeff Beck may be playing up there or something.
And we've got pictures, I think.
Love you, Johnny.
We love you, Johnny.
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, I love you, bro.
I love you, bro.
I love you, bro.
I love you.
Well, a very happy-looking Johnny Depp and happy fans for him.
Not everyone.
I mean, Lenny Colin, you talked about your own abusive history that you have with an ex.
There will be people who say this is a massive blow to the Me Too movement, that women won't be believed, that Amber Heard, by losing so emphatically, this might almost have shuddered the Me Too movement.
Well, I'll tell you, first of all, aspects of the Me Too movement deserve to be ground to a halt, number one.
And number two, anybody who's ever been to AA will know that men beat up women, women beat up men.
And the fiction that women are always a victim is ridiculous.
And, you know, Amber Heard was there on tape saying to him, golding him, and admitting she'd been beating him up and then saying nobody's going to believe you.
And if they do, her message was, if they do, they're going to think you're a wuss.
Let me bring back Lisa Bloom because, Lisa, you've represented many genuine victims in the Me Too movement who've won actions and won court case.
You've done some amazing work for women who deserved to have vindication in courtrooms.
How damaging, though, is it when someone like Amber Heard, so high profile, is basically concluded by a jury to be a massive liar and they've awarded $15 million against her.
It's very damaging and it's very scary to women who want to speak out.
Many of them speak out and they don't name their abuser.
And in fact, she didn't in the underlying article.
But, you know, Piers, this is not the end because there will certainly be appeals.
I've done defamation cases and appeals.
I represented Janice Dickinson against Bill Cosby in a defamation case.
We won two important appeals.
That's where these cases are decided.
And I think this is an inconsistent verdict because the jury did award her $2 million on her counterclaim based on the attorney Adam Waldman making statements against her.
And that was attributed to Johnny Depp.
So how is it then a false statement if she says I am a representative of domestic violence?
I think that is an inconsistent verdict and that is not allowed.
So I think there's a lot of issues on appeal here and the appellate courts are going to sort it out.
Of course, that's going to take years.
For now, they know he is definitely the big winner today.
And Lisa, do you think Johnny Depp has a comeback here?
Hollywood loves a comeback, as Sharon Osborne said.
You know, he's been in his eyes.
He'll say, I've been completely vindicated.
I took this action to clear my name.
And unlike Prince Andrew, who, you know, paid a large amount of money not to clear his name, Johnny Depp has taken this big gamble, which it was, with everything hanging on it, really, and he's won.
Do you think he's got a chance now to come back to be a big Hollywood star again?
Absolutely, because Hollywood not only loves a comeback, it loves wealthy, powerful, A-list celebrities, and it's very hard to go up against them.
You know, I do it every day on behalf of everyday people.
It's always a David and Goliath struggle.
And I think he will definitely have a comeback.
One of the complaints that people had about aspects of the Me Too movement was that the pendulum swung very wildly and may have swung too far in the sense that this concept, you have to believe all women.
You know, one of the things that people will say about this trial, I'm sure, this case, is that, well, why?
If someone like Amber Heard is lying to destroy her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, why should the automatic de facto default position always be you must believe women?
Well, of course, we should not believe all women or all men, but and everybody should have due process.
But I every day talk to my clients and they are suicidal.
They are upset.
They have corroborative evidence.
And even so, it is a huge uphill battle to go against somebody who is very wealthy, who can have social media bots coming after you, private investigators going through your garbage and talking to your family members.
I mean, these cases are very hard.
In my opinion, the Me Too movement has not gone far enough.
We are definitely seeing a backlash now.
I think this case is a good example.
Every case should be decided on its own merits based on the facts.
Of course, nobody should be falsely accused, but there are still many, many women out there who are victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Well, thank you, Lisa.
As always, a great analysis.
Really appreciate you joining us tonight on what has been a pretty momentous day, certainly, in terms of the fortunes of the people involved here.
Joined by Tommy Lehron from Fox Nation and also Janice Dickinson, who I spoke to last week about this case.
Welcome to both of you.
Tommy Lehron, what do you make of it?
Hey, listen, I think that this is also a big victory in the battle against cancel culture.
And in America, we've dealt with that for two plus years now.
Listen, I would have had respect for Amber Heard if she would have penned an op-ed talking about how toxic relationships can be so damaging and talking about getting yourself out of a toxic situation.
I would have had respect for her if she had gone that route.
She didn't.
She wanted to cancel Johnny Depp.
The world watched her try to cancel Johnny Depp.
And in the end of the day, she lost.
And I believe it was a rightful loss.
And going back to this whole notion of the Me Too movement, it is maybe started with wonderful intentions.
But as you mentioned, Piers, it has gone far too far.
We can't just believe all women because believe it or not, women can be abusers too.
And I believe that's what Amber Heard was.
Tommy, let me just read Johnny believes Amber Heard was, and now she's going to have to pay for it.
Right, let me just read you.
There's a statement here from Amber Heard, which I'm going to read in full and get your reaction to it.
The disappointment I feel today, she says, is beyond words.
I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still wasn't enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.
I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women.
It's a setback.
It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke up could be publicly shamed and humiliated.
It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.
I believe Johnny's attorney succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of freedom of speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK.
I'm sad I lost this case, but I'm sadder still when I seem to have lost a right I thought as an American to speak freely and openly.
Now, Tommy Larin, I would say no one's damaged her free speech.
She was allowed to speak freely and openly, but the jury concluded that what she was saying was a lie and not just a lie, but a deliberate malicious lie designed to destroy her husband.
And that's why they found against her.
And that's why they've awarded him so much money.
Yeah, free speech doesn't mean that you could lie about somebody else for your own personal gain or to bolster your own career in Hollywood and what have you.
And when she's talking about a setback, she is the setback for women.
When you have somebody in her position with such a platform that she has and the jury finds that you lied about it with actual malice, you are the setback to so many women that don't have the platform that you have, that have actually been abused and don't have a voice.
She should be ashamed of herself and we'll see if she can make a comeback, but I don't think so.
You can't go after people.
You can't cancel them for no reason.
This is a big victory for Johnny Depp and the war against cancel culture.
Let me bring in Janice Dickinson.
Janice, we spoke about this last week and you were, I think, hopeful this would be the verdict.
What do you think Johnny Depp's reaction would have been to this?
I think Johnny Depp is absolutely relieved for the fact that after all these several weeks and months that this trial has been going on, that he's been hammered with all these accusations and all these defamatory remarks coming from his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
I think, you know, I think he's going through, he's going to have relief because I was once in the defamatory case with Bill Cosby.
And, you know, we found him to be liable.
And so I was vindicated and my vindication feelings were just utter relief.
Well, actually, we've got a, there's a statement now from Johnny Depp.
I think he said something along the lines of the jury.
The jury gave me my life back.
I am truly humbled.
And I don't think he's overstating that because I think had he lost this case, Johnny Depp would have been finished.
So the stakes were unbelievably high for him.
Absolutely, Pierce.
You know, he, you know, it begins to slide down.
Once a celebrity is accused of something, the telephones stop ringing for future jobs.
It happened to me and it was like really heartbreaking.
And I'm sure he got canceled from the pirates of the Caribbean franchise and he got canceled from all these other jobs.
And this is millions of dollars for this poor guy.
Poor guy.
You know, I think that I think he has a big sense of relief now.
And the court of public opinion for him is that I was right when I came on your show last week and I said I'm pro Johnny Depp because I don't believe Amber Heard.
I never believed all her accusations from the start.
It sounded like a pathetic woman just clamoring for attention to make herself, I mean, what does she gain from doing this in the first place?
I also think, I have to say, I also think that when you lose so emphatically, continuing to play the wallowing victim, I think it leaves a pretty unpleasant taste in the mouth.
Tommy and Janice, thank you both very much.
Really appreciate that.
Welcome.
Let me bring back my Stella panel.
Thank you for staying with me also.
We weren't expecting to be doing this, so this all broke just before we came on air.
Happy Note on a Unique Moment 00:02:30
Katie, the statements are quite telling, aren't they?
Johnny Depp, very to the point.
This jury has given me my life back.
Amber Heard, another long, you know, really self-pitying diatribe.
Let's just hope that she doesn't appeal.
I mean, I think there's just a time to go quietly.
I still don't understand how she is going to come back from this if her net worth is 8 million and she's got these 15 million to pay.
Yeah, I've got Elon Musk as a well, she better have some, she better have.
Well, Leon Musk made an interesting point.
He said that when you take them out of their toxic relationship, he said they're both decent people.
That was Elon Musk, who of course she also dated.
But she's not.
She's not.
That thing, that action.
Well, his argument was that the relationship got so toxic, it made them both behave in the way he was recognised.
No, that is fine.
That's the Sharon and Aussie Osborne scenario.
What is completely unacceptable in this matter is the lies she told about him in terms of that part.
Remember what she said about that?
I actually thought that the 7 million she got awarded, the fact she hadn't given that money after all was exposed as a blatant lie.
I want to end on a happy note because tomorrow the Platinum Jubilee starts.
That's what we were going to be talking about.
Let's just end on a happy note.
Katie, it's going to be a magnificent four days for the country.
Britain is best with pomp and pageantry.
And at the center of it, this extraordinary woman, the Queen.
Yes, let's just, you know, take a breath, take a moment.
Let's hope that she is as many things as she possibly can be.
This is a unique moment for our country.
It's a unique moment for the Queen.
I think this really matters to her, peers.
I agree.
I think it really matters.
And it's our chance, actually, to finally all come together after a very difficult time with the pandemic and with inflation and with war and everything else and just spend a few days celebrating one of the most extraordinary lives of our lifetime.
A woman who's been on the throne 70 years.
And when she comes out on that balcony tomorrow, I want the world to roar their approval and show Queen Elizabeth II exactly what she means.
Not just to this country, because I think she's the most respected world leader of any kind on the entire planet.
She's our record-breaking leader.
Thank you for my great panel.
We've got to leave it there, but thank you.
You've all been brilliant, and especially for pivoting.
And just to remind you, big win for Johnny Depp.
That's it for me.
Wherever you are tonight, make sure it's uncensored.
I'm pretty sure Johnny Depp will in whatever pub he's in in Newcastle because he won and Amber Heard lost.
Good night.
Export Selection