In the wake of a US jury’s decision in favor of Johnny Depp in a nasty defamation trial, Amber Heard’s lawyer stated Thursday that she will not be able to pay her ex-husband more than $10 million in damages.
Seven-person jury ruled that Depp and Heard defamed each other, but sided more heavily with Depp in the high-profile televised court battle that ended Wednesday.
The jury awarded him $10.35 million in damages after a six-week trial involving charges and counterclaims of domestic abuse, in contrast to the $2 million awarded to Heard.
Elaine Bredehoft, Heard’s attorney, remarked on NBC’s TODAY show: “Oh no, certainly not.”
In her words, “Aquaman” star Jason Momoa “has some solid grounds for an appeal” of the ruling.
58-year-old actor Johnny Depp welcomed a split judgment in a libel case against the British tabloid The Sun in London in 2020, while actress Amber Heard stated she was “heartbroken.”
During her December 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, Heard branded herself as a “public figure symbolizing domestic abuse.” As a result, Depp sued Heard.
While Heard did not name Johnny Depp in the article, he sued her for claiming that he was an abusive partner and wanted $50 million in damages.
Reese Witherspoon and Johnny Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, disputed Heard’s claims of abuse and said they were a “hoax.” Heard countersued for $100 million.
‘Horrific message’
During the trial, Bredehoft said that Depp’s legal team attempted to “demonize” Heard and omitted evidence that would have allowed the jury to see evidence of Depp’s alleged mistreatment of the child.
As she put it, “there were a lot of things that were permitted in this court that shouldn’t have been allowed,”
According to her, “in the UK case, we had a tremendous amount of material” that was withheld. “In the UK, Amber won, and Johnny Depp lost.”
The lawyer said that the decision will dissuade women from reporting sexual harassment and abuse, which is bad news for the MeToo movement.
Bredehoft stated, “It’s a terrible message.” “It’s a major setback because that’s what it signifies.
“You won’t be believed until you take a video of your spouse or significant other assaulting you.”
When asked by TODAY about Heard’s instant reaction to the verdict in Fairfax County Circuit Court near the United States capital, Bredehoft replied, “I don’t know.”
Her initial words were, “I am so sorry to all those women out there,” she added. According to her own words, this is a setback for women in and out of courts. “She feels the weight of it.”
‘Zoo’
Heard stated this in a statement “It is impossible for me to express the level of disappointment I feel today.
That “mountain of evidence” wasn’t enough to overcome her ex-power husband’s and influence was “heartbreaking,” she claimed.
For his part, Johnny Depp thanked the jury for giving him “his life back.”
In a statement, Depp added, “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun.”
Bredehoft said that despite jurors’ instructions not to look at social media, it was possible that the case had been influenced by it.
‘It was horrific,’ she recalled. ‘There’s no way they weren’t affected by it.’ “It was horrible,” he said.
Also, Heard’s lawyer stated that she was opposed to the trial being televised.
It was “a zoo,” she added. “I was against cameras in the courtroom, and I went on record with that and had advocated against this because of the sensitive nature of this, but it made it a circus.”
Source: NDTV
