Amber Heard will argue 16 points in appeal against Johnny Depp over defamation trial

14 October 2022

Amber Heard will argue 16 points in her appeal against Johnny Depp over their defamation trial.

Amber Heard will argue 16 points in her appeal against Johnny Depp over their defamation trial

Documents filed at the Court of Appeals of Virginia show the 36-year-old ‘Aquaman’ actress – who owes her former husband Johnny $10.3 million (£9.2 million) in damages – is complaining records including medical records were not lodged as evidence.

Her 16-point appeal paper also shows she believes the court “erred” in not allowing into evidence the fact Johnny, 59, lost a similar defamation trial against Amber in the United Kingdom, along with his statements that followed the loss.

Her legal team also condemned the court for allowing testimony about Amber’s false claim she had donated $3.5 million (£3.13 million) to the American Civil Liberties Union from her divorce settlement from Johnny.

Central to her appeal is a claim the court mistakenly allowed Johnny to argue or suggest damages could be awarded based on statements made before the publication of Amber’s op-ed piece for the Washington Post.

Her article about sexual violence, printed in 2018, didn’t name the actor as an abuser but he said it was defamatory to his character.

Johnny owes Amber $2 million (£1.8 million) as a result of their six-week defamation trial, which she says in her appeal lacked “clear and convincing evidence” to show she acted out of malice, which must be proven in defamation cases.

The actress’ appeal document says: “The trial court erred in denying the motion to set aside the jury’s verdict with regard to Mr. Depp’s failure to prove that the allegedly defamatory statements in the challenged op-ed each conveyed a defamatory meaning about him by implication and that any such implication was both designed and intended by Ms. Heard.”

Johnny was awarded $10 to $15 million (£8.6 to £13.4 million) in compensatory damages and $5 million (£4.5 million) in punitive damages, but the judge later capped the damages at $350,000 (£313,000) leaving Johnny with a total of $8.35 million (£7.5 million.)

Amber won one of her three countersuit claims related to statements made by Johnny’s lawyer suggesting the actress and her friends had trashed their apartment before calling the police.

She was awarded $2 million (£1.8 million) in compensatory damages out of the $100 million (£90 million) she sought from Johnny.