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Amber Heard has signaled that she plans to appeal the verdict in Johnny Depp’s defamation case against her despite it being a potentially costly move.
Judge Penney Azcarate made the verdict official and entered it into the docket at a hearing in Fairfax County, Virginia, after Depp’s and Heard’s lawyers failed to reach a settlement before Friday’s deadline, Entertainment Tonight reported. Both stars were not present in court during the 30-minute hearing.
The hearing officially sealed the verdict the jury reached on June 1 after 14 hours of deliberations that gave Depp a major victory over Heard.
The jury awarded the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star $15 million in damages, later reduced to $10.35 million by the judge, after finding that Heard defamed him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about surviving domestic abuse. Heard, for her part, was awarded $2 million for partially winning her counterclaim against her ex-husband.
After the judge finalized the verdict, Heard’s spokesperson indicated that the actress intends to file an appeal, according to the outlet. The “Aquaman” star has 30 days to do so.
“As stated in yesterday’s congressional hearings, you don’t ask for a pardon if you are innocent. And, you don’t decline to appeal if you know you are right,” her spokesperson said in a statement to ET.
Legal expert Julie Rendelman said filing an appeal could be costly for Heard because “she must post the judgment that she was found against her by the jury, which is $10 million.”
The actress also “has to post 6% of that judgment each year in order to go forward with that appeal,” Rendelman said.
Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft previously said on the “Today” show that the actress cannot afford to pay the damages she owes Depp.
An anonymous source also told ET that Heard was “not in a good place and is worried in general and financially speaking.”
Heard’s plan to pursue an appeal received mixed responses on Twitter. Some questioned her finances, while others complained that the former couple’s years-long legal battle is not yet over.
“Filing bankruptcy to escape a judgment is bankruptcy fraud. Amber Heard can’t delay paying. She has to pay before she can obtain the ‘right to appeal’ and that’s based on error of procedure or law. If she appeals, she pays, so she’s not broke and thus more of a liar. She’s cornered,” one person commented.
“Amber Heard announces that she’ll appeal verdict of defamation trial. So, it got picked for Season 2,” another wrote.
A third person speculated that Depp “probably tried to settle,” but Heard allegedly “couldn’t let it go” and wanted to “find a way to win the appeal” because “that is all she has left at this point.”
Photo: POOL via AFP / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
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