Will there ever be an end to the war between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard? It seems unlikely. Amber appealed Thursday against the verdict of the highly publicized defamation trial that pitted her against her former husband Johnny Depp in the United States. And the response from the star of Charlie and the chocolate factory don’t miss the salt. As you might expect, Johnny Depp also appealed, barely 24 hours after his ex, to request the cancellation of his three defamation convictions. In a press release, the actor’s lawyers drive the point home: “The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and returned a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp“.
The 36-year-old actress was ordered to pay ten million dollars to the star of Pirates of the Caribbean who was to pay him two million, according to the judgment rendered on June 1 by a court near Washington. Amber Heard’s lawyers, who failed to obtain the annulment of the trial for defect of form, formalized Thursday their intention to appeal on the merits. “We think that the court made mistakes that prevented a fair verdictfair and respectful of the First Amendment” of the Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression, explained its spokespersons in a press release. “We realize this call will inflame Twitter but it is a necessary step to ensure justice is served.“, they added.
The legal battle between the former spouses stems from a 2018 Washington Post op-ed, in which Amber Heard described herself as “a public figure representing domestic violence“, without naming her ex-husband. Assuring that this text had destroyed his reputation and his career, Johnny Depp, 59, had sued ex-wife for libel for $50 million in damages. Amber Heard had counter-attacked and demanded the double.
After six weeks of debates and morbid revelations, the jurors of the court of Fairfax, concluded that the ex-spouses were mutually defamed, but they considered that the damages suffered by Johnny Depp were superior. The trial, which was highly publicized and broadcast live on television, was followed by millions of viewers around the world and provoked an outburst of insulting messages towards the actress on social networks.
The two actors had started a romantic relationship in 2011 and were married in 2015. Amber Heard had filed for divorce in 2016, claiming to be the victim of domestic violence, which Johnny Depp has always denied. She had dropped these charges when the divorce was finalized in 2017. After a first trial in London in 2020, which related to an article published in the tabloid The Sun and presenting Johnny Depp as a “abusive husband“, the British justice had decided against the actor, considering that “the vast majority of alleged assaults had been proven“.