Johnny Depp appealing part of verdict that awarded Amber Heard $2M

Actor Johnny Depp is appealing a portion of the verdict that awarded his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, $2 million in the couple’s legal battle.

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Depp’s attorneys on Wednesday filed a 44-page appellate brief with the Virginia Court of Appeals, according to The Hill. It contests the $2 million that was awarded to Heard, according to excerpts shared online by Law & Crime.

On June 1, a seven-person jury found after a six-week trial that Heard, 36, defamed Depp, 59, in a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post about domestic violence although she did not mention him by name, People reported.

The jury awarded Depp more than $10 million in compensatory damages in his libel lawsuit against Heard, according to The Hill. But the jury also found that one of Depp’s lawyers had defamed Heard, and she was awarded $2 million in her countersuit claim.

The statement was made by Adam Waldman to the Daily Mail and was published on April 27, 2020, People reported. According to the newspaper, Waldman claimed that Heard and her friends “set up” Depp by calling police with claims of abuse in 2016. The jury, in awarding Heard the $2 million, found that Waldman was acting as an agent for Depp when he made his comment.

The brief argued that the jury’s judgment “on that lone statement is erroneous” and that Heard’s case “was fatally flawed.”

In July, attorneys representing Heard filed a notice of appeal in Fairfax County, Virginia. According to The Associated Press, the document notified the Virginia Court of Appeals that Heard intended to appeal the judgment as well as rulings the judge made after the verdict, including rejecting Heard’s request to set aside the verdict and dismiss the lawsuit or order a new trial.

The three-page filing was reported by Deadline.

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