The trial ends: Johnny Depp's lawyer's harsh arguments against Amber Heard

Johnny Depp's team delivered the final arguments on Friday in the defamation trial that the actor initiated against his ex-wife Amber Heard, which has lasted for six weeks.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star's lawyer, Camille Vasquez, began by calling the actress an "abuser."

"There is an abuser in this courtroom, but it is not Mr. Depp. There is a victim of abuse in this courtroom, but it's not Ms. Heard," Vasquez said. "She is, in fact, the abuser and Mr. Depp is the abused."

Vasquez emphasized the accounts of experts who diagnosed Amber with borderline personality disorder and described her as a "deeply troubled person" who is "desperate for attention and approval."

Six years ago, Amber Heard filed a restraining order against Depp, which, according to Vasquez, "ruined' the actor's life."

"On May 27, 2016, Heard entered a courtroom in Los Angeles, California, to obtain a restraining order against her ex and, in doing so, ruined his life by falsely telling the world that she was a survivor of domestic violence against Johnny," it stated.

Today, May 27, 2022, exactly six years later, we ask you to bring Mr. Depp back to life by telling the world that he is not the abuser Ms. Heard said he is and to hold Ms. Heard accountable for her lies.

"What is at stake is this man's good name. What is at stake is the life of a man he lost when he was accused of heinous crimes and the life he could live when he is finally vindicated," Vasquez said.

Today, six years ago, Amber filed a false report of domestic violence against her husband of 15 months, Johnny Depp. It was a set-up. She had warned the paparazzi to be on standby. "They knew where she would stop" and show her bruise, Vasquez explained.

The photos capture what they wanted her to see: the image of a battered woman. The dark mark on her face appeared six days after she saw Mr. Depp. It was a lie. She knew it, Mr. Depp knew it, and multiple witnesses who saw her that week knew it. The world only saw what she wanted them to see.

The court was shown the cover of People magazine that gave an account of Heard's bruised face. "Two years later, when she was promoting the biggest role of her career, until this trial, Ms. Heard presented herself as a public figure representing domestic violence," the lawyer added.

Vasquez said Amber's allegations are "far-fetched and implausible, and you can't choose which one to believe and ignore. You believe it all or nothing. Either she is a victim of truly horrific abuse or she is a woman who is willing to say absolutely anything.”

"It is disturbing to think that Ms. Heard would make up the horrific stories of abuse she testified to in this courtroom. Abuse is a reality for far too many women, but the overwhelming evidence and the weight of that evidence shows that it's not her story, it's not Ms. Heard's story," Vasquez said.

The attorney expressed that it was "an act of profound cruelty, not only to Mr. Depp but also to true survivors of domestic violence. It was false, defamatory, and caused irreparable harm."

Before closing arguments began, Judge Penney Azcarate told the jury that their names would remain sealed for a year due to the "high-profile nature" of the trial. She had made no such decision at the beginning of the trial.

Camille said that "most importantly, we heard from Ms. Heard herself," including multiple audio recordings in which she admits to being physically violent with Depp. The jury heard a recording of Amber telling Johnny, "I didn't punch you. I hit you."

"Take a minute to think about what you heard. Imagine if you were Mr. Depp saying that to Ms. Heard. This is the real Ms. Heard, on the audio recordings. What you didn't hear on a single audio recording was Mr. Depp ever admitting to hitting Ms. Heard," Vasquez said.

In 2016, when Amber learned that Johnny wanted to end the relationship, she "went on the attack," Vasquez said. She sent Depp a list of financial demands and when they weren't met, she delivered "a blow more damaging" than anything physical by accusing him of abuse.

"She didn't just want the divorce, she wanted to ruin it," Camille emphasized. According to Vasquez, Heard told "lies upon lies," even commenting in media interviews that she gave away her entire $7 million divorce settlement to the ACLU and Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.

That was a "blatant lie," and she alone had given less than $1 million to the ACLU and $250,000 to Children's Hospital. "When you catch Ms. Heard in a lie, she covers it up with more lies," Vasquez added.

She addressed the "giant lie at the heart of this case," which was "Ms. Heard's claim that he was an abusive monster and that she is a public figure representing domestic abuse."

"We told them this would be a performance, the role of a lifetime as a heroic survivor of brutal abuse. Ms. Heard pulled out all the stops. She spun a shocking, overwhelming, brutal story of abuse. She came into this courtroom prepared to give the performance of her life and she gave it," Camille continued.

Johnny's other attorney, Benjamin Chew, followed up with closing statements and said that with the op-ed, Heard was "trading on her accusations against Mr. Depp" because she had the movie Aquaman to promote. She was "once again casting Mr. Depp as the villain in her drama."

Benjamin wanted to make it clear that this case "has never been about money, nor is it about punishing Ms. Heard. It is about Mr. Depp's reputation and freeing him from the prison he has lived in for the past six years." Chew called the claims "despicably false.”

"While Mr. Depp's name will forever be tarnished by these horrific and false allegations, this case is about telling them the truth of what happened, it is about restoring his lost reputation. It is about showing Mr. Depp's children that the truth is worth fighting for," he added.

"You have seen the evidence in this case: that evidence shows that Ms. Heard's overwhelming attempt to portray herself as a heroic survivor and Mr. Depp as an abuser are completely false. We implore you to give him his name back,” Benjamin continued.

"Before Amber Heard, no woman claimed that Mr. Depp raised his hand to her in his 58 years and no other woman since Ms. Heard made that false claim. This is #MeToo without #MeToo," he finished.