Johnny Depp appeals verdict that awarded ex-wife Amber Heard $2M 

Johnny Depp is appealing part of the verdict that awarded his ex-wife, fellow actor Amber Heard, $2 million in the pair’s high-profile legal battle.  

A jury in June partially sided with Depp and awarded him more than $10 million in compensatory damages in his libel lawsuit against Heard. But the jury also found that one of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor’s lawyers had defamed Heard, and the actress was awarded $2 million. 

The new appellate brief, filed Wednesday in the Virginia Court of Appeals, contests the $2 million in Heard’s favor, according to excerpts shared online by Law & Crime.

The brief argues the jury’s judgement “on that lone statement is erroneous” and that Heard’s case “was fatally flawed.”

The trial drew national attention as legal teams for Depp and Heard sparred in the weeks-long televised proceedings.  

Depp had accused Heard of damaging his reputation in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about sexual violence, though she didn’t mention him by name in the piece.  

Heard counterclaimed that Depp had damaged her reputation by calling her a liar.  

The $2 million win Heard snagged accounted for statements by Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, calling her allegations of abuse “a hoax.”