The new Netflix documentary series portrays the tumultuous path toward the final verdict of the highly-documented court case. The three-part docuseries on Netflix offers a deep-diving look into the controversial court case between the former celebrity couple that took social media by storm in the spring of 2022. Both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard made international headlines for their dispute over the issue of a 2018 op-ed written by Heard for The Washington Post titled
Depp subsequently sued Heard in 2019 with claims of alleged defamation based on her inaccurate and lamenting portrayal of him in the article.
The final verdict in saw Depp receiving $10 million of his $50 million claim in compensatory damages.
Depp and Heard had dated for several years before splitting up in 2016. Although Heard did not describe Depp by name in her Washington Post op-ed, there was enough circulatory context for her allegations made in the published article that indicated she was referring to Depp.
As depicted in , Amber Heard filed a countersuit against Depp's claims of libel in 2021 which resulted in her being rewarded monetary compensation as well. Heard's counterclaim alleged that one of Depp's lawyers actually defamed her when he made an accusation that she had created an elaborate hoax for the police.
Heard had initially countersued Depp's former attorney Adam Waldman for $100 million on three counts of statements he made to the press regarding Heard's fabrication and manipulation of an environment of abuse. In the countersuit, Heard claimed that she was only ever violent with Depp for reasons of protecting her own safety and that of her younger sister, making Deep seem like the perpetrator of domestic violence.
Despite the millions of dollars being awarded on both sides of the case, both parties were able to ultimately settle after the final verdict was made. In December 2022, Heard paid a total of $1 million to Depp, which he ultimately split between five separate charities. It appears that the monetary outcome of the lawsuit was not the focal point of the dispute and the absolved claims of domestic abuse against Depp were enough to convince the actor to settle with Heard.
Heard made a point to take to her Instagram account to publicly announce the settlement, stating that although she had found an outside solution with her former husband, her decision to settle did not solidify any admission of guilt or act of concession. Heard stated in her social media post, Heard also made sure to mention on Instagram,
The
became its own form of internet-age modern entertainment, blending pop culture media coverage with a serialized long-form content rollout similar to its own real-life Netflix series. With now becoming an actual Netflix series, it seems like a full-circle moment in which art imitates life. The case was also dramatized in a Tubi original movie . The popularization of the trial on TikTok allowed millions to follow along and offer their own commentary as the trial occurred, contributing to the phenomenon depicted in Netflix's one-of-a-kind .