Johnny Depp’s lawyers have hit back at claims they are taking a “victory lap” following the verdict in the actor’s defamation trial against Amber Heard.
Attorneys Camille Vasquez and Ben Chew appeared on both ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today show on Wednesday morning in their first televised interviews since the jury handed down its verdict last week.
Ms Vasquez told GMA host George Stephanopoulos that comments made by Ms Heard’s team, accusing her and Mr Chew of being “unseemly” and “unprofessional” in the aftermath of the trial were “disappointing”.
“I think it’s disappointing,” she said.
“We’re only speaking about what happened in this case and the facts in this case were overwhelmingly positive for Johnny. And the verdict speaks for itself.”
She also dismissed suggestions from victims’ advocates that the case marks a “setback” for both women who speak up about alleged abuse and the MeToo movement.
“We encourage any victim to come forward. Domestic violence doesn’t have a gender,” she said.
On Tuesday night, Ms Heard’s spokesperson had slammed Mr Depp’s team for the TV appearances calling them “unseemly” and “unprofessional”.
“It is as unseemly as it is unprofessional that Johnny Depp’s legal team has chosen to do a victory lap for setting back decades of how women can be treated in the courtroom,” the statement said.
“What’s next? A movie deal and merchandising?”
In the week since the verdict was read, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor been spotted in multiple headline-making engagements.
The 58-year-old actor launched a TikTok account thanking fans for their support through the trial, racked up a £50,000 ($60,000) dinner bill at an Indian restaurant in Birmingham and appeared on stage to perform alongside musician Jeff Beck.
Mr Depp’s attorneys denied that the online obsession surrounding the case had any impact on the verdict reached by jurors, with Mr Chew insisting social media “played no role whatsoever”.
“My view is that social media played no role whatsoever,” he said on GMA.
“This was a decision made by the jury on the evidence presented on both sides.
“And as Camille [Vasquez] said, it was overwhelmingly in Mr Depp’s favour.”
The dismissal came after Ms Heard’s legal team said that the social media circus surrounding the case could have influenced the outcome.
Social media was heavily skewed in support of Mr Depp during the trial.
Meanwhile, Ms Vasquez was also transformed into an overnight celebrity through her work on the case with fan pages springing up on social media and online searches for the attorney skyrocketing.
She addresssed the bizarre fandom during the GMA interview saying it was “overwhelming” but that she hoped she could inspire other women.
“It’s been surreal and if I’m being honest a bit overwhelming,” she said.
“But if I can be an inspiration to young women that want to go to law school and study and work hard then it was all worth it.”
Mr Depp’s attorneys also didn’t rule out the possibility that he could reach a deal with Ms Heard to spare her from the $8.35m payout.
“We have to be careful what we say, but this was about Mr Depp’s reputation, that’s what it was about for him,” Mr Chew told Mr Stephanopolous.
Jurors in Fairfax, Virginia, found that Ms Heard had defamed Mr Depp on all three counts and he was awarded $10m (£8m) in compensatory damages and $350,000 (£280,000) in punitive damages.
For her part, Ms Heard was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in damages for one of her three counterclaims leaving her to owe $8.35m (£6.7m) in total to Depp.
Mr Depp had sued Ms Heard for $50m for defamation claiming that she implied that he abused her in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post.
Ms Heard didn’t name him in the piece but he claimed her allegations impacted his ability to get work in Hollywood.
She countersued him for $100m accusing him of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her.
