The lawyer for Hollywood actor Amber Heard says her client will not be able to pay millions in damages to Johnny Depp. Elaine Charlson Bredehoft was speaking after the Pirates of the Caribbean actor won his defamation suit against his ex-wife.
Mr Depp had sued Ms Heard for $50m after he says she defamed him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. He was not named in the piece, but Mr Depp's claim was founded on the impact that the intimation she was abused had on his work.
Ms Heard had pursued a $100m counterclaim. Jurors found on Wednesday (June 1) that Mr Depp had proven the newspaper piece titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change" was defamatory.
On NBC's The Today Show, Ms Charlson Bredehoft was asked if Ms Heard was 'able to pay a $10.4 million judgement?'
The lawyer replied: "Oh no, absolutely not." She says the 36-year-old star intends to appeal the judgement.
Following the verdict, the Aquaman star said on social media she was “heartbroken” but “even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women”.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women.”
She went on to say the judgement “sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated”.
She added that Mr Depp’s attorneys had succeeded in getting jury members to “overlook” freedom of speech.
“I’m sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly,” she said.
In a separate verdict, Ms Heard was awarded two million dollars (£1.6 million) in damages after her counterclaim against Mr Depp over comments made by his lawyer Adam Waldman, who allegedly referred to her abuse claims as a “hoax”, was found to be defamatory.
