Amber Heard's lawyers told jurors a verdict against her would devastate abuse victims everywhere. Johnny Depp's lawyers want to strike the remarks from the record.

• Amber Heard's lawyer told jurors a verdict against her would affect abuse victims everywhere.
• Johnny Depp's lawyers want to strike the remarks, saying they were inappropriate.

Attorneys for Johnny Depp on Tuesday asked the judge overseeing his defamation trial to strike part of the closing arguments made by Amber Heard's lawyers, saying the remarks were inappropriate.

The remarks were made by Benjamin Rottenborn, who told the jurors in closing arguments on Friday that they should view a verdict against her as a message to "every victim of domestic abuse everywhere."

"Ruling against Amber here sends a message that no matter what you do as an abuse victim, you always have to do more. No matter what you document, you always have to document more," Rottenborn said. "No matter whom you tell, you always have to tell more people. No matter how honest you are about your own imperfections and your own shortcomings in a relationship, you have to be perfect in order for people to believe you."

Rottenborn said that a verdict against Heard would make the jurors an "accomplice" to Depp, who he said wanted to destroy Heard's life because she left him and accused him of abuse.

In a motion filed in court on Tuesday, Depp's attorneys said Rottenborn's arguments amounted to inviting jurors "to decide the case 'based on passion and prejudice'" and "a larger social objective" beyond the evidence presented to them during the six-week trial. They asked Judge Penney Azcarate, who's overseeing the case, to strike Rottenborn's remarks from the record and ask jurors to disregard them.

Depp filed a lawsuit against Heard in 2019, accusing her of defaming him with the publication of a December 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. Heard didn't name Depp in the op-ed, but Depp said in the suit that any reasonable reader would understand it as a reference to their relationship. In 2016, Heard filed for divorce against Depp and, about the same time, filed for a restraining order against him that included a photo of her face, which appeared to be bruised.

Depp alleged he was the victim of physical and verbal abuse at Heard's hands throughout their relationship. He also alleged the photo was faked with makeup.

Heard filed a countersuit, alleging Depp physically assaulted her throughout their relationship. Jurors are deliberating both whether Heard defamed Depp through the op-ed and whether Depp defamed Heard when his lawyer alleged she staged abuse incidents.

In Tuesday's motion, Depp's lawyers also asked Azcarate to make a minor modification to the jury verdict form in the case to more closely mirror the language in the jury instructions she gave them.

Azcarate declined to take up the motion on Tuesday afternoon. After settling on an answer to a question from the jury, she told Depp's attorney Benjamin Chew that Rottenborn's remarks would stand "for now."

"The jury has the case now, and it's out of my hands," Azcarate said.