Amber Heard’s Advocates Demand a Verdict in Johnny Depp Defamation Court

Heard’s legal team also claims that the $10.35 million jury award against Depp is inconsistent and irreconcilable with the jury’s conclusion that Depp and Heard had defamed each other.

Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damage and $350,000 in punitive damages.

The jury also awarded Heard $2,000,000 in compensatory damages in her counterclaim.

“Mr. Depp presented no evidence that Ms. Heard did not believe she was abused,” Heard’s attorneys wrote. “Therefore, Mr. Depp failed to meet the legal requirements of actual malice and the verdict should not be reaffirmed.”

Ben Chew, Depp’s lead lawyer, commented on the motion for the verdict to be thrown out. He said that it was “what we expected”, but added that it was “no more substantive” in a statement sent to Courthouse News.

Depp, the plaintiff, in this case, sued Heard to defame the 2018 Washington Post editorial she published that made reference to her abuse allegations. Depp claimed that the article did not mention the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star. However, he said it hurt his reputation and destroyed his career. Heard and Depp split one year before the publication of the op-ed. Heard claimed that Depp had subjected him to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse throughout their marriage.

Depp was convicted in 2020 by the High Court of London in a separate case of defamation. He had sued the Sun for calling the Sun a “wife-beater” and Depp claimed that he assaulted Heard in 12 of the 14 incidents.

Heard appeared in interviews about the case since June’s conclusion. Heard described the seven-week legal battle she endured as “the most humiliating, horrible, and terrible thing she had ever experienced.”