US judge: Ex-wife to pay Johnny Depp £ 8m
Amber Heard must pay Johnny Depp £8.45 million, according to the judge in their defamation trial.
Judge Penney Azcarate has made a jury’s award official with a written order for actress Heard to pay Pirates Of The Caribbean star Depp the sum for damaging his reputation by describing herself as a domestic abuse victim in an article for The Washington Post. The judge entered a judgment order into the court record after a brief hearing at
Fairfax County Circuit Court, Virginia.
She also ordered Depp pay Heard £1.62m, the jury’s award on her counterclaim that Heard was defamed by one of Depp’s lawyers.
The order was a formality after the jury announced its verdict on June 1, largely siding with Depp after a sensational trial in which the couple revealed lurid details of their short marriage during a televised trial that was closely followed on social media.
Edward Scissorhands actor Depp sued Heard over a December 2018 piece in which she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”. Heard has said she plans to appeal against the verdict.
During Friday’s hearing the judge said that, if Heard appeals, she must post a bond for the full amount of the award while the appeal is pending, a common practice.