Amber Heard Files Appeal in Defamation Case Against Johnny Depp

Amber Heard wants Johnny Depp back in court. Extra acquired documents indicating Heard’s lawyers have appealed her ex, Depp’s defamation case. On July 21, the papers were filed in Fairfax County, Virginia, the location of their previous trial.

A spokesperson for Heard later told Extra, “We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”

In addition, Depp’s spokesperson told the outlet, “The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp in multiple instances. We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”

Depp sued Heard for defamation and $50 million, and she countersued for $100 million. A jury in June found in favor of Depp, agreeing that Heard’s op-ed claiming she was a domestic abuse survivor was defamatory. As a result, he was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. As part of Virginia’s statutory cap, the judge immediately lowered the $5 million figure to $350,000.

Heard’s countersuit also ended with a partial victory for her, as the jury awarded her $2 million in compensatory damages based on a statement made by one of Depp’s attorneys. Heard recently requested a new trial, but it was rejected.

During a conversation with Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Heard’s lawyer Elaine Charlson Bredehoft asked if the actress intends to appeal last month’s verdict.”Absolutely, and she has some excellent grounds for it,” Charlson Bredehoft said. 

When asked if Heard could pay the $10.35 million judgment, Charlson Bredehoft responded, “No, of course not.” In her opinion, Heard lost the case because Depp’s legal team was able to “demonize” her and suppress “an enormous amount of evidence,” including medical records.

As she explained, they were not allowed to tell the jury about “an enormous amount of evidence” from Depp’s libel lawsuit against The Sun U.K. for labeling him a “wife beater” in 2018. Depp has consistently denied ever abusing Heard but lost the case in 2020.

The attorney also said there was “no way” the jury was not influenced by the “horrible” hateful and biased social media posts against Amber. “It really, really was lopsided,” she said. “It’s like the Roman Colosseum how they viewed this whole case. I was against cameras in the courtroom, and I went on record with that and had argued against it because of the sensitive nature of this, but it made it a zoo.”

Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, Depp’s lawyers, also spoke with Guthrie and discussed the possibility of an appeal.”We feel very confident that there are no errors that would justify any kind of successful appeal,” Chew said.

Chew responded to concerns about social media’s influence on the jury members, saying, “No, I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that the jurors violated their oath. And again, that suggestion was disappointing to hear.”

Vasquez continued, “It is everywhere, but at the same time, they were admonished every single night. And they had a tremendous amount of respect for the court and the process, and they were doing the best that they could.”