Scores of fans, mostly Depp's, had gathered at the Fairfax County Circuit Court every day, some with the intent of securing a hard-sought courtroom seat as others participated in displays of fanfare outside.
Heard wrote a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post newspaper in which she claimed that "two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out." The article did not name Depp but was published two years after Heard filed for divorce.
Heard said she was "heartbroken" by the verdict shortly after it was read aloud.
"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. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously," she said in a statement on her Twitter account.
"I am sad that 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," she added.
