Amber Heard took advantage of the MeToo movement, says Johnny Depp’s lawyer as case wraps up

Amber Heard took advantage of the MeToo movement to make false claims that she was abused by Johnny Depp and “ruined his life”, his lawyers said on Friday, as the blockbuster six-week defamation trial drew to a close.

In a dramatic final day in Fairfax, Virginia, Mr Depp’s lawyers labelled Ms Heard as the real “abuser” in the couple’s relationship.

But Ms Heard’s team said that “America’s favourite pirate” was at times a “rage-filled monster” and that she only needed to prove that Mr Depp had abused her at least once to win the case.

“In the wake of the MeToo movement, producers know better than to case a movie star who has been accused of domestic and sexual violence,” said Benjamin Chew, acting for Mr Depp.

But here, he said, was an example of “MeToo without any MeToo” and that Ms Heard’s damaging claims that she was both physically and psychologically abused during their relationship had led the Pirates of the Caribbean star to lose out on tens of millions of dollars in earnings.

The MeToo movement, which saw women come forward with their stories of abuse at the hands of powerful men, was for “true survivors of abuse, not Ms Heard,” said Mr Chew.

Mr Depp 58, sued Ms Heard for $50 million (£39 million) for defamation when she called herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in an article for the Washington Post in 2018.

The article never mentioned Mr Depp by name, but his lawyer told jurors it was clear that Ms Heard was referring to him.

Ms Heard, 36, countersued for $100 million (£79 million), saying Mr Depp smeared her when his lawyer called her accusations a “hoax”.

Over six weeks of proceedings, jurors have listened to recordings of the former couple’s fights, seen graphic photos of a bloody finger and heard arguments about faeces found in the couple’s bed.

On Friday, Mr Depp’s lawyers went on the attack, saying in their closing statements that Ms Heard is a “deeply troubled person desperate for attention”.

Camille Vasquez, also acting for Mr Depp, said Ms Heard took on the “role of a lifetime” as she “performed” as a domestic abuse survivor.

Ms Vasquez said to the jury: “What we have is a mountain of unproven allegations that are wild, over the top, and implausible.

“And you can’t pick and choose which of these wild allegations to believe and which ones to disregard. You either believe all of it or none of it.

“Either she’s a victim of truly horrific abuse, or she is a woman who is willing to say absolutely anything,” Ms Vasquez said.

"What is at stake in this trial is a man’s good name. Even more than that, what is at stake at this trial is a man’s life. The life that he lost when he was accused of heinous crimes and the life he could live when he is finally vindicated.”

Ms Heard told jurors on Thursday that a harassment campaign waged against her by her ex-husband had left her humiliated and scared for her life from multiple death threats, and said she just wants “Johnny to leave me alone”.

Her lawyers said that Mr Depp could not prove that he did not abuse her at least once, which is all that is required.

“If Ms Heard was abused physically, verbally or emotionally even just once, she wins,” Ms Heard’s attorney, Benjamin Rottenborn, said in his closing argument.

“They’re trying to trick you that Amber has to be perfect in order to win... Don’t fall for that trick,” Mr Rottenborn told the jury.

“Amber’s not perfect, none of us are. She’s never pretended to be and that’s not what you’re being asked to decide.

He backed up his argument with a number of photographs which showed Ms Heard with bruises, videos of Mr Depp flying into a violent rage and audio recordings of him groaning in a drunken stupor on a private jet.

Ms Heard’s attorneys have argued that she told the truth and that her opinion was protected as free speech under the US Constitution’s First Amendment. They said she also lost work opportunities in Hollywood because of Mr Depp’s accusations.

Mr Depp lost a libel case in the UK less than two years ago against the Sun, which labelled him a “wife-beater”. A High Court judge in London ruled that he had repeatedly assaulted Ms Heard.

In one final bizarre twist in this Hollywood trial, proceedings were temporarily halted last night as alarms sounded in the building. It was an “amber alert” for a tornado warning.

The jury was sent out on Friday night and they will decide whether, on the balance of probability, Ms Heard did defame Mr Depp in the 2018 Washington Post article and whether he should receive damages.