Jury awards millions of dollars to Johnny Depp in libel suit; Amber Heard wins less in countersuit

 Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard has finally come to an end, with the jury’s final verdict, and the actor has been declared the winner of the trial by the jury.

Heard will have to pay a total of $15 million to Depp ($10 million in damages and $5 million in punitive damages), although in the end it will only be $10.35 million, while Depp will also have to pay his ex-wife the amount of $2 million.

The jury of five men and two women returned its verdict on Wednesday after nearly 13 hours of deliberation spread over three days at the district court in Fairfax, Virginia.

Heard did defame Depp in his three lawsuits
The jury found that Depp was defamed by Heard in the title of his Washington Post op-ed, which read, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
On the other hand, the jury ruled that Adam Waldman did defame Heard when he told the Daily Mail she set up Depp in a hoax when the police came to their apartment in May 2016. It awarded Heard $2 million in damages for this claim.

The jury also found that Depp was again defamed in his second claim against Amber Heard in the title of her Washington Post op-ed, which read: “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.”

By the third claim, the jury found that Heard defamed Johnny Depp in her Washington Post op-ed when she wrote: “I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”

Depp to pay Heard $2 million

However, Depp did not defame Amber Heard when his lawyer spoke of a “Ms. Heard abuse hoax against Johnny Depp,” the jury ruled. This means Depp was only found to be defamatory in one of her three claims.

According to the jury’s decision on awarding Depp $5 million in punitive damages, that number was capped at $350,000, according to state laws.

Subtracting Heard’s award from Depp’s total, the Pirates of the Caribbean star leaves the case with $8.35 million.

Heard, in her statement, said she is sad that that she lost the case, but "sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American — to speak freely and openly." She said the verdict sets back women and the treatment of domestic violence victims.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Johnny Depp says Virginia jury ‘gave me my life back.’

• Amber Heard testified that Mr. Depp sexually assaulted her and engaged in a ‘pattern’ of violence.

• Johnny Depp portrayed Ms. Heard as the aggressor in his testimony.

• The two sides clashed over what caused the damage to Mr. Depp’s career.

• A judge in Britain found in 2020 that Mr. Depp had assaulted Ms. Heard and put her ‘in fear of her life.’

The jury found that both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were defamed, but awarded more money to him

In his statement, Depp said, "The goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained stedfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.......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 me were forever changed,”

Comedian Sabinus slams N1bn suit on beverage firm over unauthorized trademark use

 Comedian, Chukwuemeka Emmanuel, popularly known as Sabinus, has slammed a one billion naira suit on Friesland Foods Wamco Nigeria Plc for unauthorised use of his trademark ‘something hooge’.

In an Instagram post on May 24, Peak Milk had used the phrase ‘something hooge’ to advertise their product.

Addressing the company through his lawyer, Stanley Alieke, Sabinus noted that the phrase was his registered trademark and therefore, demanded N1 billion in compensation and damages.

 Sabinus threatened a lawsuit if the brand failed to comply within two weeks from the receipt of the legal notice.

“Our client briefed us and we believe the same to be true that your Company, Friesland Foods Wamco Nigeria Plc, used a trademarked slogan ‘Something Hooge’ for the promotion of your Peak Milk product,” the legal notice dated May 27 read.

It continued, “The advert which was made on the Peak Milk Nigeria verified Instagram page (peak milk) was posted on the 24th day of May 2022 which was used to promote the Peak National Breakfast Week.

“It will interest you to know that the phrase ‘something hooge’, which was popularized by our client, has been trademarked and legally reserved as his intellectual property by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment.

“The said slogan was trademarked on the 26th of November 2021 with the file number: NG/TM/O/2021/48316. 10. On this note, we make the demand for the payment of the sum of Five Hundred Million Naira (N500m) as compensation for the unauthorized use of the intellectual property belonging to our client.

“And another five hundred million Naira for damages for the trauma; emotional, physical, psychological, and mental trauma our client has suffered for the Trademark theft and infringement of his intellectual property rights.”

Credit: Peak Milk

Sabinus also demanded a sum of N100m from UAC Foods for the use of his animated image in an advert for the Gala sausage roll.

The notice dated 25th of May read, “Your company UAC Food Ltd. has been using the brand picture and other intellectual properties of Sabinus to make adverts for your Gala sausage roll without the consent or authorization of our clients,” another notice read.

“You made a post on your verified Instagram handle (gala sausage roll), on the 23rd of May, 2022 with the picture of our client. The post which was a cartoon of our client was captioned ‘the way I calculate everything in my life’.

“We demand that you pay our client the sum of one hundred million Naira (N100m) for the use of the picture which is the average fee our client charges for his picture to be used for adverts and promotions.”

the Gala ad can be seen below

Credit: Gala sausage roll