Actress Amber Heard said she is so “depressed” over the “heartbreaking” jury verdict in favor of ex-spouse Johnny Depp that she can’t put into words how disappointed she is, Deadline quoted her as saying.

“The disappointment I feel today cannot be put into words. I am heartbroken that the weight of evidence was not enough to stand up to the power, influence and authority of my ex-husband. I am even more disappointed by what this verdict means for women. It is a failure. It goes back to a time when a woman who dared to speak out [about domestic violence] could have been publicly shamed and humiliated. It defeats the idea that violence against women should be taken seriously,” the actress said.

Heard believes that Depp’s lawyers managed to get the jury to ignore a key free speech issue and ignore evidence that was so compelling that a similar case was won in Britain.

“I’m sad that I lost this case. But even sadder is that I seem to have lost the right I thought I had as an American to speak freely and openly,” the actress said after the verdict was announced.

Heard left the courtroom after the announcement of the verdict, her lawyers followed her. She looked down when the verdict was read, but began watching the jurors as they were questioned later. Her ex-spouse, Johnny Depp, was not at the verdict; he watched the trial remotely because he was in the United Kingdom.

He was sentenced by a jury to pay $2 million in compensation on Amber Heard’s counterclaim. Depp sued Heard for defamation over a December 2018 publication in The Washington Post in which she described herself as a “known domestic violence survivor.” Depp’s attorneys said the article defamed the actor, though Depp’s name was never mentioned in it.

On June 1, a jury read the verdict in Depp and Heard’s case in a courtroom in Fairfax, Virginia. The jury found in favor of Depp on two counts, and now Heard must pay him $15 million in compensation, with the jury finding in favor of Heard on one count.

Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married from 2015 to 2017. In 2016, the actress filed for divorce and then accused Depp of “three days of physical abuse torture.”

Depp denies violence towards his spouse and, in turn, claims that the actress herself raised her hand against him. In addition, the actor’s lawyers reported Heard’s infidelity – she allegedly cheated on him with colleague James Franco and businessman Elon Musk.

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