AMBER: I CAN’T PAY THE PIPER!
POOR little rich girl Amber Heard is blubbering she’s broke and “absolutely cannot” pay ex-husband Johnny Depp the $10.3 million a court says she owes him from their lurid defamation trial — even though she seems to live like a princess!
Despite Amber’s claims her bank account has run bone-dry, the Aquaman hottie reportedly hunkered down throughout the Virginia court case in a lavish $22,000-a-month, 13,000-square-foot mansion featuring sweeping double staircases, eight bedrooms and nine baths — along with a private tennis court, home theater and spa.
And when she’s not scrapping with her famous ex, the blonde luxuriates with her year-old daughter, Oonagh Paige — carried by a surrogate — in a million-dollar oasis with a five-car garage in California’s Mojave Desert!
But Pirates of the Caribbean hunk Johnny, 59, made
36-year-old Amber walk the plank in their mud-slinging, six-week mutual defamation lawsuit — with a jury ordering Heard to cough up $10.35 million and Johnny to fork out $2 million in her original $100 million counter-defamation suit.
Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, says the poor dear “absolutely” cannot afford the hefty judgment!
Bredehoft added her client intends to appeal the decision because there’s still a mountain of evidence of Johnny’s alleged physical, sexual and emotional abuse that did not come out at the trial over whether Amber defamed Johnny in a 2018 op-ed piece in which she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
The essay did not name Depp, but his suit alleged everyone knew who she meant and the publicity ate into his career prospects.
Ultimately, the jury did not buy the Rum Diary actress’ poor-me story — and neither have millions on social media who accused her of lying and shedding fake crocodile tears!
They also point to how Amber never made good on her famous promise to donate the $7 million she pocketed from her 2016 divorce from Johnny. She testified her checks to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles were on hold because of staggering legal fees, but that she would follow through someday.
“I would love him to stop suing me so I can!” she’s wailed.
But sources claim Amber is getting a free ride from a home insurance policy that covered her court costs! A Travelers vice president, Pamela Johnson, was photographed squiring Amber around at the trial.
“It’s a little oddity that most people don’t know,” says Pennsylvania trial attorney Heather Heidelbaugh. “In most homeowner insurance policies, there is coverage if you are sued for defamation.”
The graphic trial was a mustsee for millions, who breathlessly followed such details as Johnny losing a fingertip and writing on the walls with his blood, and Amber’s claim he sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle.
But if “heartbroken” Amber hopes to weasel out of paying, she may be in for a shock! There are many ways Depp can get his mitts on Amber’s dough, legal sources say — including garnishing her wages from her upcoming Aquaman sequel or seizing her desert home.
“If she doesn’t have the money, then his avenue, while she’s pursuing an appeal, is to try to execute on property she owns,” says Virginia appellate lawyer Steven Emmert.
Virginia lawyer Jeremiah Denton says Depp “can attach her assets, which basically means seize them.”
PR honcho Alexandra Villa says Amber’s career is “in crisis” right now as Hollywood studios steer clear of her.
“Much of her testimony has holes in it and she may need to address those issues,” says Villa.
But Johnny, a three-time Oscar nominee, has lost no time lining up his next gig — a day after the verdict, he announced plans to release a new album with guitarist Jeff Beck: “The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun.”
Beauty lives like pirate queen but deep-sixes Depp’s $10.3M jury award