It is no more news that Amber Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s defamation case has ended. On June 1st, the Jury at the court in Fairfax County, Virginia, ruled that Amber was guilty of defaming Johnny in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post. Subsequently, the Jury ordered Amber to pay Johnny $15 million in damages ($10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages).
However, the judge reduced the $5 million punitive damage to $350,000, the cap for such cases in Virginia. Meanwhile, Amber won her defamation countersuit, with the Jury awarding her $2 million. This means Amber owes her ex-husband about $10.4 million while he owes her $2 million. However, it looks like the actress will struggle to pay the sum if her lawyer’s words are anything to go by.
Amber Can’t Afford To Pay Johnny $10.4 Million
On Thursday, June 2nd, Amber Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, spoke to Today‘s Savannah Guthrie and opened up about her client’s ability to pay the sum. Responding to Savannah’s question about Amber’s ability to pay, Elaine said,
“Oh no, absolutely not.”
EXCLUSIVE: Amber Heard's attorney tells @savannahguthrie the actor "absolutely" plans to appeal. pic.twitter.com/DRGjNBqzdy
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 2, 2022
Amber Plans To Appeal The Jury’s Verdict
Following the verdict on Wednesday, Amber took to her Instagram page to express her disappointment in the process. The Aquaman actress said she was heartbroken that the mountain of evidence was not enough to challenge Johnny’s power and influence.
While Amber’s statement showed her anger at the verdict, she is not stopping at that. Elaine revealed during her interview with Savannah that Amber would appeal the ruling. She explained,
“She [Amber] has some excellent grounds for it [an appeal]. We even had tried to get the UK judgment in to dismiss his case because he already had his shot. That’s one of the issues. But also, there was so much evidence that did not come in.”
Elaine also believes the pro-Johnny social media campaign influenced the Jury’s verdict. She explained that the jury members went home every night, have families, and could have hardly avoided getting influenced by social media.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s case lasted for weeks and was the talk of the town. Now that it has ended, it continues to generate heated debates worldwide. One can only wonder what happens next with Amber Heard’s lawyer’s admission that she would struggle to pay the compensatory damages and appeal the verdict. Only time will tell.
