Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, who recently won the defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, has been awarded $10.35 million in damage by a Virginia court after a six-week-long court trial. But, soon after the verdict, Amber’s lawyer had said that she cannot afford to pay him.
In a fresh interview recently, Johnny Depp’s lawyer Benjamin Chew has stated that Ms Amber may not have to pay the money after all. He added that for Mr Depp, the trial was not about money but about reputation.
The Johnny Depp Vs Amber Heard trial finally came to an end recently after six weeks after a Virginia court ruled that Ms Amber had defamed Mr Depp in a 2018 op-ed she wrote about being a victim of domestic abuse. The “financial difficulties” being faced by Amber Heard came to the fore during the trials. The jury ruled in favour of Johnny Depp and awarded him $15 million in damages.
Recently, Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos asked Benjamin Chew if Mr Depp would say yes to a settlement where Amber agrees not to appeal the case in exchange for “him waiving monetary damages. In reply, Benjamin hinted that it might happen.
On the show, Chew said, “We obviously can’t disclose any attorney-client communications, but as Mr Depp testified and as we both made clear in our respective closings, this was never about money for him. This was about restoring his reputation, and he’s done that.”
In 2009, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard met on the sets of The Rum Diary. During that time, Johnny Depp was in a long-term relationship with French actress Vanessa Paradis while Amber Heard was dating photographer Tasya Van Ree. Following the split from their respective former partners, the two began secretly dating in 2011 and in 2014 they got engaged. In 2015, they finally tied the knot in a very private ceremony on Depp’s private island in the Bahamas.
In 2016, Heard filed for divorce and alleged that Depp had physically abused her during their marriage under the influence of drugs or alcohol. However, Depp refuted the allegations stating that Heard was “attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse.” In 2017, their divorce was finalised. Later, In 2018 Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for defamation because of an op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post. In the op-ed, headlined “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change,” Heard claimed that she was a domestic abuse survivor. However, she did not name Depp.
