Johnny Depp has appealed part of the verdict in his legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. He says that the jury “overwhelmingly” sided with him and that the one count of defamation that she won at their shocking trial was wrong.
This is what the 59-year-old “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor said in court papers he filed Thursday in Virginia’s Court of Appeals. He is trying to get the $2 million jury award to his ex-wife in June overturned.
Depp was found to have been slandered by an op-ed article in which Heard, 36, said he had abused her in the past. He was given a verdict of $10.35 million.
But the jury sided with Heard on one count where she said Depp lied about her when his lawyer, Adam Waldman, said in an interview that her claims were made up.
Johnny Depp wants total victory over Amber Heard, and he's just filed an appeal trying to get it … claiming the jury got it wrong when it ruled in favor of his ex-wife on a single count of defamation. https://t.co/0RZDmyfMyt
— TMZ (@TMZ) November 3, 2022
“The judgment in Ms. Heard’s favor on that lone statement is erroneous,” Depp’s 44-page appeals brief said.
His lawyers said that because Waldman worked for Depp, he could not be held legally responsible for what he said.
“As a matter of law, Mr. Waldman is an independent contractor, whose allegedly tortious conduct is not automatically attributable to Mr. Depp,” says the court filing.
Heard’s claim was “fatally flawed,” Depp’s lawyers said, and the court should have let their client’s motion to throw out evidence at the trial.
This objection to Waldman’s comments was the “only statement at issue in this appeal,” Depp’s side said, because the jury’s final verdict “overwhelmingly favored” Depp.
“The jury’s emphatic favorable verdict on all three defamatory statements alleged in his complaint fully vindicated Mr. Depp and restored his reputation,” the filing said.
“Indeed, Mr. Depp prevailed in the trial court on virtually all material issues, and the verdict of the jury and judgment of the trial court represent an intelligent and well-reasoned decision on the merits after a full and fair trial and should be largely (though not entirely) affirmed.
“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.”
About a month after the trial, Depp filed a notice of appeal, which was the first sign that he planned to appeal the verdict.
The actress from “Aquaman” had filed her own appeal the day before, trying to overturn the verdict that said she had to pay her ex $10 million in damages.
A judge had already turned down Heard’s request for a new trial for a number of reasons, including a mistake by a juror that, she said, changed the way the case turned out.
During the six-week trial, both sides made a lot of crazy abuse claims. For example, Depp said that Heard cut off the tip of his finger during a fight in Australia in March 2015 by throwing a vodka bottle at him.
Heard denied that she was to blame for Depp’s severed finger. Instead, she said that Depp hurt himself in a drunken rage and used a bottle to sexually abuse her.
So the circus continues with both of the Hollywood elites refusing to give an inch to either side. But it is fun entertainment.
"*" indicates required fields
