Never-ending saga of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Photos: AP
It looks like the legal battle between exes Amber Heard and Johnny Depp has just entered a new chapter.
A day after Heard filed her appeal on Thursday (July 21), Depp followed up with an appeal of his own. The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor will challenge the verdict that awarded his ex-wife US$2mil at the conclusion of their messy and sensational defamation trial in June. Depp initially won US$15mil in damages, but that sum was reduced to about US$10.4mil in accordance with Virginia’s statutory limit.
“The verdict speaks for itself, and Mr. Depp believes that this is a time for both parties to move on with their lives and heal,” a representative for Depp said in a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times. “But if Ms. Heard is determined to pursue further litigation by appealing the verdict, Mr. Depp is filing a concurrent appeal to ensure that the full record and all legal issues are considered by the Court of Appeal.”
Heard made her intentions to appeal the verdict clear more than a month before she officially filed. Upon the Aquaman actor’s official filing this week, Depp’s team said they “remain confident in our case and that the verdict will stand.” Depp did not previously express his intention to appeal the verdict before Friday.
Representatives for Heard did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
The years-long defamation case stemmed from a 2018 op-ed Heard wrote for The Washington Post, in which she called herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The story did not mention Depp by name, but the Black Mass actor sued Heard for US$50mil. In 2021 Heard countersued for US$100mil regarding public statements made by Adam Waldman, Depp’s former attorney.
On Thursday, Heard’s team said it understood that revisiting the outcome of the trial and challenging Depp once again put a target on the actor’s back, especially on social media.
“While we realise today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice,” a spokesperson for Heard said Thursday. –Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
