Johnny Depp’s legal team has filed to appeal part of the verdict that orders him to pay ex-wife Amber Heard $2 million.
In June, a Fairfax, Virginia, jury found that Heard defamed Depp in a 2018 op-ed, ordering her to pay the actor damages amounting to $15 million, which ultimately became 10.35 million, as punitive damages are capped at $350,000 in the state. In addition to awarding Depp compensatory and punitive damages, the jury also found that Depp defamed Heard regarding a statement made by his former lawyer, Adam Waldman.
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In April 2020, the Daily Mail reported that Waldman claimed that a 2016 911 phone call that alleged Depp was attacking Heard was “a hoax” and said Heard called 911 a second time after she and her friends “spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist.”
Court filings show Depp’s legal team labeling the verdict “erroneous,” according to excerpts shared by Law & Crime. The appeal, filed in Virginia Wednesday, asserts that Depp cannot and should not be held liable for Waldman’s comments, noting that “Depp testified that he had never even seen the Waldman Statements prior to the filing of the Counterclaim in August of 2020.”
Heard has said she also plans to appeal the jury’s decision. In August, the actress dropped attorney Elaine Bredehoft and enlisted the help of lawyers David L. Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown.
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The movie Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial, which reenacts the contentious trial, was released by Tubi in September.
