Johnny Depp Appeals $2M Trial Win for Ex-wife Amber Heard

Hollywood star Johnny Depp has appealed the $2m verdict a jury awarded to his ex-wife Amber Heard in the pair's high-profile legal battle in June.

He declared Thursday in a filing at Virginia’s Court of Appeals.

“This Court should reverse the judgment on Ms. Heard’s Counterclaim as to the April 27 Waldman Statement, but should otherwise affirm the judgment in Mr. Depp’s favor,” the filming stated.

While the acclaimed actor almost swept the table earlier this summer in the defamation trial against his Rum Diary co-star and former spouse, Depp is determined to not pay the $2 million verdict awarded to her.

The "Aquaman" star claimed that Depp was “vicariously liable” for a trio of damning and defaming statements his close pal and ex-lawyer Adam Waldman gave to UK tabloid "The Daily Mail", calling Heard’s allegations of violence and abuse at Depp’s often allegedly drunken hand was hogwash.

In an April 27, 2020 article Waldman characterized Heard’s account of an alleged domestic violence incident between the high-profile couple on May 21, 2016, as a “hoax” found the jury’s favor.

Walking away from the Fairfax County Courthouse on June 1 with the cheers of fans in his ears and a $10.4 million award, Depp and his bicoastal Brown Rudnick LLP team have made the first formal move in what has been a long-anticipated appeal process from both sides.

“The judgment in Ms. Heard’s favor on that lone statement is erroneous,” the 44-page appeal filing succinctly says.

“Even if the Court were to conclude that Mr. Depp could be held liable for Mr. Waldman’s allegedly tortious conduct, the trial court nonetheless erred in denying Mr. Depp’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion to Strike because Ms. Heard failed to present evidence to establish one of the required elements of defamation,” the document adds.

”Specifically, Ms. Heard failed to present evidence that Mr. Waldman acted with actual malice when he made the April 27 Statement.”

The appeal filing, from Depp’s Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez-led legal crew, asserted: “Ms. Heard presented no evidence at trial that Mr. Depp was personally involved in directing or making the Waldman Statements. Instead, she chose to pursue a pure vicarious liability claim against Mr. Depp, contending that he was liable for Mr. Waldman’s allegedly defamatory statements simply because Mr. Waldman was his attorney.”

In the context of Depp's appeal, item #15 in Heard’s October 11 filing may prove very telling of where the actress’ formal appeal will put its thumb on the scale.

The document noted: “The trial court erred in denying the motion to set aside the jury’s verdict and in ruling that the jury’s verdicts in favor of Mr. Depp on his claims against Ms. Heard and in favor of Ms. Heard on her claims against Mr. Depp were not inherently and irreconcilably inconsistent.”

Depp sued his ex-wife Heard in March 2019 for $50 million over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed under Heard’s byline.

In the article, she spoke about becoming a “public figure representing domestic abuse”, an op-ed that devastated his career despite Heard didn't mention his name.

Depp kept silent during their 2016 divorce.

However, in his filings and repeatedly on the stand during the trial earlier this year, he declared he was the one who was abused in the couple’s relationship.

Heard countersued Depp for $100 million in 2020. That countersuit came months before Depp’s UK libel case against the Rupert Murdoch-owned "The Sun" tabloid for calling him a “wife beater” proved a dramatic flameout in November 2020.