Johnny Depp Appeals Amber Heard’s $2 Million Defamation Win
The saga of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp continues, because Depp's legal team has just filed an appeal over Heard's $2 million defamation win.
On Nov. 2, Depp's team made the filing in the Virginia Court of Appeals, according to documents published by the Law & Crime Network. In the documents, they presented their case and the reason why Depp should not be held liable for comments made by his attorney.
The statement that caused Heard to win $2 million appeared in the Daily Mail back in April of 2020. Depp's lawyer claimed Heard set up the actor and called the alleged abuse that occurred a "hoax." The jury sided with Heard, because they felt that Depp's lawyer was acting as an agent for Depp.
However, the legal team for the Pirates of the Caribbean actor said that: "Mr. Waldman is an independent contractor, whose allegedly tortious conduct is not automatically attributable to Mr. Depp" and "no evidence of Mr. Waldman's actual malice was presented at trial."
Depp's lead attorney Benjamin Chew said of the situation that Heard's win for defamation was "erroneous."
Representatives for Heard have not made a statement as of reporting.
Earlier this year, a seven-person jury found that Heard had defamed Depp in a a 2018 op-ed about domestic violence, despite the fact that she did not mention him by name. Depp would go on to win all of his defamation claims and was ultimately awarded $10 million. Nevertheless, Heard won three of her claims and would go on to win $2.
Both actors have said they would appeal the other's win.