Amber Heard on Thursday appealed a Virginia court’s ruling ordering her to pay ex-husband Johnny Depp more than $10 million in a high-profile defamation trial that exposed the inner workings of their marriage problematic
Heard’s attorneys filed documents in Fairfax County Circuit Court, where a six-week trial featured riveting testimony from both Heard and Depp. The filing notifies the Virginia appeals court that Heard intends to appeal the sentence, as well as the rulings the judge made after the verdict, including the denial of Heard’s request for set aside the verdict and dismiss the suit or order a new trial.
“We believe the trial court made errors that prevented a fair and just verdict consistent with the First Amendment. Therefore, we are appealing the verdict,” a Heard spokesman said in a statement. “While we realize today’s filing will light the Twitter fires, there are steps we must take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Depp sued Heard for defamation over an op-ed she wrote in December 2018 in The Washington Post in which she described herself as “a public figure who represents domestic abuse.”
Depp’s lawyers claimed he was defamed by the article even though he never mentioned him by name. Heard filed counterclaims, alleging that Depp’s former attorney defamed her by publicly calling her allegations of abuse a hoax.
The jury ordered Heard to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Punitive damages were reduced to $350,000 under a state cap. The jury awarded Heard $2 million on his counterclaim.
Much of the testimony during the six-week trial focused on Heard’s claims that she had been physically and sexually abused by Depp at least a dozen times. Depp insisted he never hit Heard and that she was the aggressor.
“The jury heard the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and reached a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp on multiple occasions,” a Depp spokesperson said in a statement. “We are confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”