The documents the highly publicized trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in 2022, and the court proceedings occurred in Fairfax County, Virginia. Depp sued his ex-wife for $50 million in damages on counts of defamation in relation to her 2018 op-ed during . Heard filed a defamation counterclaim against Depp for $100 million in damages. It was a messy trial from beginning to end, and the world was obsessed with it, given the intricacies of their former relationship and the fame that Depp and Heard have acquired as actors.

The docuseries showcased the trial and the internet's obsession with it.

People were picking sides — "Team Johnny Depp" versus "Team Amber Heard" — but in the end, the jury ruled in favor of Depp. He received $10 million of his $50 million claim and an additional $5 million in punitive damages (which was eventually reduced to $350,000 due to Virginia state law's maximum limit). However, Heard didn't walk away with anything due to the jury finding that Depp's former lawyer had defamed her in a statement made to the . She was ultimately awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and $0 in punitive damages from Depp.

One of the biggest questions surrounding following its Netflix premiere relates to the setting of the infamous trial. Neither Johnny Depp nor Amber Heard is from Virginia, and they never resided in the state at any point during their marriage. As a result, some were confused as to why took place in Fairfax County, Virginia. However, there is a reasonable explanation for the setting of the court proceedings.

Depp sued his ex-wife in Fairfax County, Virginia, because that is where the online servers for , the newspaper that published Heard's op-ed about sexual violence in 2018, were. Although the article never stated Depp by name, the jury found that numerous statements in the piece clearly alluded to the actor and therefore defamed his character.

So since the trial, at its core, circled back to op-ed, it had to take place in Virginia. Related:

Johnny Depp seemingly chose Fairfax County, Virginia, as the site for the trial not only because it was the site of 's online servers but also because of the state's weak anti-SLAPP laws. Anti-SLAPP, or anti-strategic lawsuits against public participation, laws allow defendants to dismiss lawsuits filed against them for exercising their First Amendment rights. The laws typically protect freedom of speech and the such, and since Virginia doesn't contain strict anti-SLAPP laws, it was, in theory, easier for ​​​​​.