‘Heartbroken’ Heard plans to appeal £12m Depp damages
Libel trial ruling ‘sets back the clock for women’
& ACTRESS Amber Heard is to appeal the verdict in her libel trial against Johnny Depp after being ordered to pay him £12million in damages.
Her representative Alafair Hall said the star was “heartbroken”.
Depp, 58, brought the case over an article Heard wrote for The Washington Post in 2018, titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence – and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
The article did not mention Depp by name but his lawyers said it falsely implied he physically and sexually abused Heard while they were together.
Depp was awarded compensatory damages of £8million and a further £4million in punitive damages.
Experts say that to appeal the jury’s verdict, 36-year-old Heard would have to post a bond for the full £12million, plus interest.
To be successful, she would have to demonstrate there were errors in the trial or in the jury’s reading of the law.
While Heard was planning the next round of their legal battle, Depp was relaxing in a pub in Newcastle with singer Sam Fender.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star was seen fist-bumping fans and drinking pints with musicians Fender and Jeff Beck at The Bridge Tavern in Gateshead. Depp has joined Beck on his UK tour.
After the verdict, Depp said: “False, very serious and criminal allegations were levelled at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me.
“And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.” In a separate verdict, Heard was awarded £1.6million in damages after comments made by Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman, who allegedly referred to her abuse claims as a “hoax”, were found to be defamatory.
Following the libel verdict, the actress said she was “even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women”.
She added: “I’m heartbroken the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband.”
Heard said the verdict “sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up could be publicly shamed and humiliated”.
The jury gave me my life back. I’m humbled JOHNNY DEPP AFTER LIBEL TRIAL VERDICT