A Judge Finalized Johnny Depp's Win Over Amber Heard & She Officially Owes Him Millions
Amber Heard officially owes Johnny Depp a lot of money, after a judge finalized the jury verdict in their defamation battle on Friday.
The jury ruled mostly in favour of Depp at the end of the trial early this month, and the court hit Heard with $10.35 million in damages that she'll have to pay her ex-husband. The jury also awarded her $2 million in damages, finding Depp liable in one of three claims of defamation raised by Heard.
But the two sides still had a few weeks to hammer out a deal that might've cut down Heard's final payment, and they couldn't do it.
On Friday, lawyers for both sides appeared in court to admit that they couldn't reach a settlement. The judge then finalized the verdict, closing the door on any possibility that Heard's bill might be reduced.
Now, Heard officially owes Depp $10.35 million -- a sum that her lawyer has said she can't pay. Depp also owes Heard $2 million.
However, it sounds like Heard isn't quite done and she is still expected to appeal.
"As stated in yesterday's congressional hearings, you don't ask for a pardon if you are innocent," a spokesperson for Heard told Narcity. "And, you don't decline to appeal if you know you are right."
That seems to be a reference to the congressional hearings around the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that are currently underway. On Thursday, the committee revealed that several Republican lawmakers asked for pardons for their roles in trying to reverse Donald Trump's election loss.
The Depp v. Heard case captivated the world throughout the six-week trial, during which both actors accused one another of abuse during their relationship.
Depp ultimately successfully argued his case to the jury that Heard defamed him when she said she was a "public figure representing domestic abuse" in a Washington Post op-ed. She wrote the piece in 2018 and referred to the years when she was married to Depp.
Heard was granted part of her case by the jury, namely that one of Depp's lawyers went too far when he suggested that she'd staged a scene of domestic violence before calling the police.
Depp has not done any interviews since winning his case, but Heard did sit down with NBC News to talk about it.
The actress said the social media backlash against her wasn't "fair," although she doesn't blame the jury for siding with Depp.
"I actually understand," she said. "He's a beloved character and people feel like they know him. He's a fantastic actor."
