Johnny Depp 'Very Much Hopes' He Can 'Revive His Career' After Amber Heard Trial: Source
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Johnny Depp is hopeful he'll have a career resurgence.
On Wednesday, the 58-year-old actor won his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, with the jury finding that she defamed him in her 2018 op-ed about domestic abuse. He was awarded $10.35 million in damages. The jurors also awarded Heard, 36, $2 million in damages in her countersuit, finding that via his then-lawyer Adam Waldman, Depp defamed her in a statement from 2020. Heard also plans to appeal the verdict.
Moving forward, Depp — who's been touring overseas with Jeff Beck at concerts in the U.K. since last week — wants to restore his film career, a source tells PEOPLE.
"His career has been his everything over the years. He loves music, but acting is his life," says the source. "He couldn't sit around and do nothing about the fact that his career was being affected. He thinks the verdict was fair. It feels like a win to him."
"He very much hopes that he can revive his career," the source adds.
An additional source recently told PEOPLE that Depp is "focused on himself" right now: "He is absolutely looking ahead and past this. He's looking for positivity and to move away from negativity." The source added that the actor is "happy" and "relieved" after the verdict.
"He's figuring out what he does next. He feels like he's been vindicated," the source said. "He feels a significant weight off his shoulders. It's been six years of this. It's been so gratifying to hear from men and women — he's heard a lot of positive support from both men and women."
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Depp was not present when the verdict was read in court. He said in a statement afterward that the "best is yet to come" for him after the verdict.
"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. All in the blink of an eye," he said. "False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career. And six years later, the jury gave me my life back."
"I am truly humbled," he continued. "My decision to pursue this case, knowing very well the height of the legal hurdles that I would be facing and the inevitable, worldwide spectacle into my life, was only made after considerable thought. From the very beginning, 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 steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that."
Depp added that he is "overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and the colossal support and kindness from around the world."
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"I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up. I also hope that the position will now return to innocent until proven guilty, both within the courts and in the media," he said. "I wish to acknowledge the noble work of the Judge, the jurors, the court staff and the Sheriffs who have sacrificed their own time to get to this point, and to my diligent and unwavering legal team who did an extraordinary job in helping me to share the truth. The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun. Veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes."
Heard, meanwhile, said in her own post-verdict statement, "The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband."
"I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback," she added. "It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously."
"I believe Johnny's attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the U.K.," continued Heard. "I'm sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American — to speak freely and openly."
