Back on stage. Johnny Depp played a few songs with his friend Jeff Beck days after winning his defamation trial against Amber Heard.
The Oscar nominee, 58, joined the guitarist, 77, during the musician’s stop in Gateshead, England, on Thursday, June 2. The crowd cheered for the Finding Neverland star as he walked on stage, as seen in a video of the event shared by Sky News.
During the concert, Beck also announced that he and the Secret Window actor made an album together that’s due out later this year. “I’m gonna take this opportunity and tell you I met this guy five years ago, and we’ve never stopped laughing since,” the former Yardbirds member told the audience. “We actually made an album. I don’t know how it happened. It will be out in July.”
Depp has been in the U.K. all week, previously appearing at Beck’s shows on Sunday, May 29, Monday, May 30, and Tuesday, May 31. He was not present at the Virginia courthouse on Wednesday, June 1, when the jury reached its verdict in his defamation case against his ex-wife, 36.
“Due to previously scheduled work commitments made before the trial, Mr. Depp will not be physically present for today’s 3 p.m. verdict and will be watching from the United Kingdom,” an insider close to the Kentucky native told Us Weekly ahead of the decision.
The jury ultimately ruled in favor of the Blow star, awarding him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. (The $5 million was later reduced to $350,000 because of a Virginia law that caps punitive damages.) Depp was also ordered to pay Heard $2 million in damages because of a statement made by his former lawyer.
“From the very beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, regardless of the outcome,” the Nightmare on Elm Street actor said in a lengthy statement after the verdict was read. “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.”
The 21 Jump Street alum sued Heard for defamation in 2019 after she published an op-ed in The Washington Post in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. Depp’s name wasn’t mentioned in the piece, but he claimed that the essay had a detrimental effect on his career and reputation.
The Aquaman actress, for her part, detailed her disappointment with the verdict shortly after the jury’s decision on Wednesday.
“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,” she told Us in a statement. “I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.”
After the trial’s conclusion, Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft claimed that her client “absolutely” can’t afford to pay her ex-husband $10.35 million in damages. According to Entertainment Weekly, the Magic Mike XXL star plans to appeal the verdict.
