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Amber Heard's sister, Whitney Henriquez, has released a statement after the actress was found to have defamed Johnny Depp in a Washington Post article.
The six-week trial that enthralled many people around the world finally came to an end last week with a jury finding that Heard had defamed Depp with actual malice, ordering her to pay him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
While Depp's support grew during the course of the trial, Heard's support has been growing in the aftermath of the verdict.
Now Henriquez, who testified during the Fairfax, Virginia, trial and in the prior U.K. one, has shared a message of support for her older sister and promised she will always be "proud" of her.
"I still stand with you, sissy. Yesterday, today and tomorrow I will always be proud of you for standing up for yourself, for testifying both here in Virginia and in the UK, and for being the voice of so many who can't speak to the things that happen behind closed doors," Henriquez wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.
"We knew that this was going to be an uphill battle and that the cards were stacked against us. But you stood up and spoke out regardless."
Henriquez said she was "so honored" to testify on Heard's behalf and pledged that she "would do it a million times over because I know what I saw and because the truth is forever on your side."
She continued: "I'm so sorry that it wasn't reflected in the decision made by this jury, but I will never give up on you, and neither will anyone who stands with you. Forever by your side... #istandwithamberheard."
In 2020, Depp sued the News Group Newspapers and journalist Dan Wootton for calling him a "wife-beater" in an article in the U.K. tabloid, The Sun.
Allegations of domestic violence against him were found to be "substantially true" by the High Court.
Henriquez testified in that trial and said she had pleaded with her sister not to marry Depp because of his alleged aggression toward her.
Like her elder sister, Henriquez is from Austin, Texas, and not much is known about her private life.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, Heard described her sister as her "best friend."
"She's my partner in crime," she said at the time.
Last week, the jury also found Depp guilty of a defamation charge stemming from an April 8, 2020, article by his associate, Adam Waldman. They ordered Depp to pay Heard $2 million in compensatory damages.
