Johnny Depp Refuses To Pay Bankrupt Amber Heard $2M, Appeals Jury Decision as ‘Wrong’ While Negative $6M Worth Aquaman Star Gets Ready To End Up on the Streets
The Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp has entered the next phase of his appeal against the $2 million verdict Amber Heard was awarded in her defamation trial in June. In his legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp has appealed part of the verdict, arguing that the jury’s decision was “overwhelmingly” in his favor and that her single count of defamation was an “erroneous” decision.
As a result of a jury finding Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband in June, Johnny Depp was awarded $10.35 million in damages following a six-week trial. On Wednesday, he filed documents to appeal the Virginia court’s decision that one of his lawyers had defamed Amber Heard.
Johnny Depp Refuses To Pay $2M To Bankrupt Amber Heard
While Amber Heard lost the defamation case, her countersuit was awarded $2 million since jurors concluded Johnny Depp defamed her through his attorney. Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, but Fairfax County Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the punitive damages to $350,000, the state’s legal limit.
According to reports, Depp argued the court should reverse the jury’s decision on Amber Heard‘s counterclaim but otherwise favored the verdict.
Pirates of the Caribbean actor reportedly calls the jury’s decision awarding Heard money ‘wrong‘ in an appeal filed on Wednesday in the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Heard and Depp have been engaged in an explosive legal battle since he sued his ex-wife for defamation for a 2018 editorial for The Washington Post in which she described herself as a victim of domestic abuse and spoke of feeling angered by women who don’t speak out.
In one of her three lawsuits against Depp, the jury found that his attorney, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard by calling her allegations about a 2016 incident “an ambush, a hoax.” She was awarded $2M in compensatory damages with no punitive damage award, so the Aquaman actress ended up with $8.35 million in out-of-pocket costs.
However, according to his lawyers, Depp cannot be held legally liable for Waldman’s remarks just because the actor hired him. According to reports, the court filing said,
“As a matter of law, Mr. Waldman is an independent contractor whose allegedly tortious conduct is not automatically attributable to Mr. Depp.”
Also, the documents stated,
“However, the trial court was confronted with a number of novel and complex legal and factual issues, and although the trial court decided the vast majority of those issues sensibly and correctly, a few rulings were erroneous.”
A month after the trial, Depp filed a notice of appeal indicating his intent to appeal. His notice came just one day after the Aquaman actress filed a court appeal seeking to nullify the verdict ordering her to pay her ex-husband $10 million. Jurors denied Heard’s request for a new trial for several reasons, including a juror snafu she argued that prejudiced the outcome.
Johnny Depp’s Surprise Collaboration With Rihanna
According to Fox News, Johnny Depp is working on a surprise collaboration with Rihanna. It is expected that the 59-year-old famous actor will appear in Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Vol. 4 Show on Wednesday. As per the media outlet, Depp will be the first male to participate in this ‘star‘ moment, previously done with Cindy Crawford and Erykah Badu in past shows.
While the event has already been taped for Amazon Prime Video, Savage X Fenty announced a list of celebrities who will be modeling. Additionally, it was confirmed that Depp did not shoot his appearance with other stars.
After being awarded more than $10 million in damages in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp has signed on to additional deals and making more appearances. On the other hand, Amber Heard was seen in London with her one-year-old daughter last month.
Source: Marca
