Amber Heard will ‘absolutely’ appeal defamation decision following Johnny Depp trial

Amber Heard intends to appeal against the verdict in the high-profile defamation case won by Johnny Depp, her lawyer said.

Elaine Bredehoft told NBC’s Today show on Thursday that "there’s no way jurors couldn’t have been influenced" by the social media circus surrounding the trial.

The intense media coverage of the trial turned the courtroom into a “zoo,” she added.

"It’s like the Roman Colosseum, you know?" Ms Bredehoft said. "How they viewed this whole case. I was against cameras in the courtroom and I went on record with that and argued against it because of the sensitive nature of this. But it made it a zoo."

The jury sided with Depp when delivering the verdict in the defamation trial, awarding him $10m (£7.9m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£3.9m) in punitive damages.

Actor Amber Heard and her attorneys Elaine Bredehoft and Benjamin Rottenborn looks over to the jury just before the verdict was read at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax (AP)

Heard was awarded $2m (£1.6 million) in compensatory damages after the jury found she was defamed by one of Depp’s lawyers.

Ms Bredehoft said Heard intends to appeal and the verdict sends "a horrible message". She said: "Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively you won’t be believed."

She added that Heard is not able to pay the money she owes.

The lawyer also said the case between the couple is a "tale of two trials" after a UK court ruled in favour of The Sun after the newspaper referred to Depp as a "wife beater" - finding the claims to be "substantially true".

"Johnny Depp brought a suit in the UK for the same case and the burden of proof was easier for him there," Ms Bredehoft said.

"The court found there - and we weren’t allowed to tell the jury this - that Mr Depp had committed at least 12 acts of domestic violence, including sexual violence, against Amber. So what did Depp’s team learn from this? Demonise Amber."

Meanwhile, British musician Sam Fender has drawn criticism for hanging out with Depp months after one of his songs, which fans used to share their experiences of domestic abuse and mistreatment, went viral on TikTok.

The North Shields-born singer-songwriter was seen drinking with the actor and the musician Jeff Beck on Newcastle Quayside after the verdict on Wednesday.

He posted a picture of the group to his Instagram Stories with the text "some serious heroes".