Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Shutterstock (2)
A judge may rule in Johnny Depp’s favor regarding his Amber Heard defamation lawsuit, multiple sources confirm to Us Weekly You can find the Aquaman The actress plans to appeal the verdict.
“She is 100 percent appealing on freedom of speech and is telling friends she is determined to take it all the way to the Supreme Court if she has to,” an insider tells Use on Friday, June 3. “She is not able to comprehend that she lost.”
While court paperwork has yet to be filed, the source notes that the 36-year-old Texas native “isn’t worried” about paying the 58-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star since “she is convinced that she will win on appeal.”
Depp filed a suit against him The Rum Diary costar — whom he was married to between 2015 and 2017 — citing defamation in response to a 2018 opinion article she wrote for the Washington Post. Heard said that she was a victim of domestic abuse in the op ed. However, she did not name Depp or her attacker in the post. (The news outlet has since added an editor’s note to the article with the trial results.)
On Wednesday, June 1, a jury ruled in favor Depp, awarding Kentucky native $10 million for compensatory damages and $5,000,000 in punitive damages. Depp’s punitive award was reduced to $350,000 since Virginia state law set a cap on the maximum amount that can be awarded.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” Heard said in a statement to Use The incident occurred at the time. “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.”
She added: “I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It reverses the clock back to a time when women who spoke out could be shamed and humiliated publicly. … 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.”
The verdict is in: Justice League actress was granted $2 million after the jury found that Depp’s attorney made a defamatory statement about her, alleging her abuse claims were a hoax.
Depp wasn’t in court Wednesday but he released a statement. Us that he was “humbled” and pleased by the verdict, noting, “Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.”
Heard hopes to not only file an appeal but also to focus her attention on her family after the trial. According to an insider, Never Give Up star “is telling friends that she is just going to focus on raising her daughter [Oonagh.]”
Heard secretly gave birth to her first child via surrogate, in April 2021.
“Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms,” the actress wrote via Instagram at the time. “I now appreciate how radical it is for us as women to think about one of the most fundamental parts of our destinies in this way. I hope we arrive at a point in which it’s normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib. A part of me wants to uphold that my private life is none of anyone’s business. … [Oonagh is] the beginning of the rest of my life.”
Reporting by Diana Cooper, Andrea Simpson
