In what may seem like a very surprising move, Johnny Depp is appealing his own defamation verdict against Amber Heard. In their verdict, the jury found that Heard did defame Depp in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic abuse, and awarded the Edward Scissorhands actor more than $10 million. However, the just also awarded Heard 2 million in a separate claim, finding that Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, did defame her.
TMZ reports that Depp has filed to have the jury’s verdict against him, arguing that he should not be responsible for his lawyer’s words. “So Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist,” Waldman said, “and then placed a second call to 911.” In his appeal, Depp says that Heard’s lawyers failed to prove Waldman’s comments were delivered with malicious intent, which is a requirement for proving defamation. Heard has also filed an appeal over the verdict.
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Interestingly, a movie has been made about the big defamation case, which is sure to thrill those who were following the trial. According to Variety, Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial has debuted exclusively on Tubi, and is now available to stream. Hot Take stars Mark Hapka (Days of Our Lives) as Depp and Megan Davis (Alone in the Dark) as Heard.
The film is said to follow “the tumultuous relationship – in and out of court – of Depp and Heard, dramatizing the two-month defamation trial that concluded June 1, with the jury finding that Heard had defamed Depp by alluding to domestic violence allegations against him in a December 2018 op-ed piece.” Variety also noted that, while the jury found Heard guilty of defaming Depp, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor was also held “liable for a defamatory statement made about Heard by his lawyer.” Additional stars of Hot Take include Melissa Marty (Station 19) as Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez and Mary Carrig (Law & Order True Crime) will as Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft.
The film was directed by Sara Lohman (Secrets in the Woods), from a script by Guy Nicolucci (The Daily Show). Variety reports the movie was fast-tracked by Tubi and MarVista “to capture a timely take on a story that became part of the cultural zeitgeist, painting a unique picture of what millions watched play out in the headlines over the summer,” according to a statement from Tubi’s chief content officer, Adam Lewinson. Neither Depp nor Heard appears to have commented on the film about their legal battle.
