Two years have passed since a Virginia jury ruled in favor of Johnny Depp in his defamation case against Amber Heard. The jury largely sided with Depp against Heard, finding her liable for defaming the actor with her op-ed article for The Washington Post. After several appeals, both parties reached a settlement. Depp and Heard’s attorneys weighed in on the trial during this two-year anniversary of the verdict.
Heard’s team realized one huge mistake they committed during the trial. Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, who represented the Aquaman actress, felt that cameras shouldn’t have been allowed in the courtroom. However, Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez had a favorable take on cameras being present.
Amber Heard’s Attorney Says Allowing Cameras In The Courtroom Was A ‘Huge Mistake’
Amber Heard has been distant from the media and public for the past two years since she lost the defamation case to Depp in 2022. Heard eventually settled it with Johnny Depp outside the court after appealing the verdict for months, but the damage to her image was already done. During the second anniversary of the verdict, PEOPLE caught up with the two celebrities’ attorneys during the trial.
Elaine Charlson Bredehoft is clearly not happy with the justice served to her client. She told the outlet that they had committed a “huge mistake” by letting cameras inside the court. She had fought hard to keep the cameras away after Johnny Depp requested a televised trial in the case. She couldn’t stop him and shared that the “social media completely hijacked that trial.”
Bredehoft felt that she lost the case in the court of public opinion because of the social media memes that took moments “out of context” from the trial. Bredehoft claimed that social media users then used it to paint her client in a bad light. However, Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez doesn’t agree with Bredehoft.
She shared that allowing cameras proved that winning in the court of law and the court of public opinion was equally important. She shared with PEOPLE:
The case showed that winning in the court of law is very important, obviously, but winning the court of public opinion is equally — if not more — important.
While Vasquez admitted that the viral memes were sometimes “manipulated” and made to be “comical,” she shared that people were “responding to actual evidence” presented in the court.
Amber Heard’s Attorney Feels Cameras Shouldn’t Have Been Allowed For a Domestic Violence Cases
Elaine Bredehoft stood strong on her stance against cameras, stating that cameras should never be allowed for cases involving s*xual abuse or domestic violence. She hoped that the mistake in Amber Heard’s case would never be repeated in any other case. She shared with PEOPLE:
You should never have cameras in a courtroom for sexual assault or domestic violence [cases]. I hope that the rest of the world has figured that out and that mistake won’t be repeated.
However, Vasquez believed that the public should have the ability to witness “justice at work.” She strongly believed that public opinion wasn’t shaped by social media, but it swayed in favor of the credibility of these two people. She added that it was important for the Pirates of the Caribbean actor to show his fans the evidence that the jury was evaluating. Vasquez shared:
I know how personal and how invasive some of the topics that we talked about were for both of them, for both Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard. But it was incredibly important that Depp be able to reach his fans and show them the evidence that the jury was evaluating.
Amber Heard shared in a statement after the verdict that she was disappointed at the verdict. She shared (via PEOPLE), “It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.” Depp commented that his quest would help men and women who have found themselves in situations like his to get justice.
