Amber Heard Will Appeal Verdict Made In Johnny Depp Defamation Case

The Amber Heard versus Johnny Depp saga continues, as the actress will reportedly appeal against the recent verdict made in the multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit. The jury reached a decision yesterday, ultimately finding that both Depp and Heard were defamed but awarded substantially more financial damages to Depp. Speaking with The New York Times after the trial came to a close, a spokesperson for Amber Heard said that “the actress plans to appeal the decision.”

Following six weeks of court hearings, all of which was televised, Johnny Depp was awarded $15m by the court in Virginia. The actor was awarded $10m in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages over an op-ed written by Heard for The Washington Post in 2018, in which she said that she was a survivor of domestic abuse. Amber Heard, meanwhile, was awarded $2m in her countersuit against the Pirates of the Caribbean star.

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Heard concluded by saying that Johnny Depp’s attorneys “succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech" as well as convincing them to “ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK,” referring to a 2020 libel case which took place in Britain.

Johnny Depp Has Thanked the Jury for Giving Him His Life Back

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Since the op-ed, Johnny Depp has lost several major roles in big-budget Hollywood blockbusters, including Pirates of the Caribbean, which is now expected to continue in a sequel without his character Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp was also asked to step down from Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter prequel franchise Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in which Depp had played the main antagonist, the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. The role has since been recast, with Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen played the role in the recent outing Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

Depp has also since released a statement in which he began by saying, “Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed. All in the blink of an eye.”

The actor then detailed how the defamation had affected his life and career before adding: