That is very likely; but it's a pet hate of mine not to be given the right to reply - and I'm not an abusive Penguin... though I appreciate others might be - there's no need for name calling and nastiness etc. You'll never find me getting too snarky in the comments, not without a bit of provocation.
I'll try and explain why Heard was awarded money because it's only tangentially related to the accusations of abuse. The jury found Depp liable for defamation when his lawyer (Adam Waldman) wrote the following...
"Quite simply this was an ambush, a hoax. They set Mr. Depp up by calling the cops but the first attempt didn't do the trick, the officers came to the penthouses, thoroughly searched and interviewed, and left after seeing no damage to face or property. So Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist, and then placed a second call to 911."
The jury decided this didn't happen and that saying it did caused Amber Heard monetary damage. They awarded her $2m in damages but laid no further punitive charges on Johnny Depp. What the jury is saying here is that Amber Heard's allegations were fabrications (why Depp won his 3 claims), but they were not an elaborate hoax or an ambush and this event didn't happen the way Waldman said it did. Waldman didn't say 'the abuse didn't happen', if he'd done so and stopped there, they wouldn't have found any damages for Amber Heard. He put in writing that she was a malicious and elaborate hoaxer - which I don't believe.
And I know this must be a difficult case for you and may generate complicated feelings of fear - but it is very unlikely you will be taken to court by your rapist. If you haven't named him/her then nobody can draw an inference about who he/she is - and even if there are a few people who can do so because they know you both, your rapist would still have to prove your allegations are a) demonstrably false and b) have caused them significant amounts of financial or material harm.
Depp was fighting an uphill legal battle in this instance and it's quite a surprise that he won. Those of us who have a vested interest in fairness and truth will not allow the 'Amber Heard defence' to be used to silence true victims of abuse.... but we cannot also allow accusations to be accepted as evidence of guilt. It's a tightrope.
Please do keep writing. :o)
