Johnny Depp files appeal over USD 2 million payout to Amber Heard

Johnny Depp is not yet done. The actor filed documents to appeal a Virginia court ruling that stated that one of his lawyers had defamed ex-wife Amber Heard. 

In June this year, the jury awarded Depp $10.35 million in damages after it found Heard had defamed Depp following a six-week trial. Heard was awarded $2 million in her countersuit as jurors found that Depp defamed her through his attorney.

However, on Wednesday Depp reportedly argued that the court should reverse the judgment on Heard's counterclaim. He added that he was otherwise happy with jury's verdict. 

"The jury’s emphatic favorable verdict on all three defamatory statements alleged in his complaint fully vindicated Mr. Depp and restored his reputation," the documents filed by Depp reportedly said, as reported by Fox news. 

"However, the trial court was confronted with a number of novel and complex legal and factual issues, and although the trial court decided the vast majority of those issues sensibly and correctly, a few rulings were erroneous."

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Heard had claimed that Depp was liable for the statements made by his attorney to a tabloid in 2020. 

However, Depp stated that the lawyer Adam Waldman was retained as an independent contractor and that the actor was not liable for the statements he had made. 

"No evidence of Mr. Waldman's actual malice was presented at trial, so the judgment against Mr. Depp cannot be sustained," the documents stated.

In July, post the verdict, Amber Heard had filed an appeal in the Fairfax county circuit court through her lawyers stating that she meant to appeal the ruling, and the rulings made after the verdict. The judge had rejected her request for a fresh trial.