Amber Heard can't pay $10 million damages to Johnny Depp: Lawyer
Jun 03, 2022
Virginia [US], June 3 : After a Virginia court found that actor Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp, her lawyer said she can't pay the $10.35 million in damages.
According to The US Weekly, when asked if her client could pay the prescribed sum during an interview on the 'Today', show on Thursday, June 2, Elaine Bredehoft answered, "Oh, no, absolutely not."
Johnny, 58, would be awarded, $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages the judge announced on Wednesday, June 1. For her counterclaim, Amber, on the other hand, was given $2 million in compensatory damages but no punitive damages.
After the judge decreased the sum due to a Virginia rule capping punitive damages, Amber will only have to pay $10.35 million.
According to the Entertainment Weekly, Amber intends to appeal the decision.
She took to social media after the trial ended to express her feelings.
Taking to her Instagram handle, Amber posted a long note, which said, "The disappointment I feel today is beyond words, I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband"
According to the 'Aquaman' actor, her concerns went beyond her own role in the case. "I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated," she continued. "It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously."
She concluded, "I believe Johnny's attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the U.K. I'm sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American -- to speak freely and openly."
Depp and Heard married in a very secret ceremony in their Los Angeles home in 2015 after dating for several years. Heard filed for divorce from Depp on May 23, 2016, and secured a temporary restraining order against him. She said Depp had physically abused her during their relationship, and that it happened most often while he was high on drugs or alcohol.
