Johnny Depp’s Legal Team Responds To Amber Heard Filing An Appeal

Johnny Depp’s legal representative, Camille Vasquez, is speaking out one week after Amber Heard submitted a request to appeal the decision in Johnny Depp's defamation case against her.

In a pre-recorded interview with Gayle King that aired on Thursday on CBS Mornings, Vasquez discussed their response to Heard’s appeal and said they were not shocked that she filed it. Obtained court records revealed that Heard submitted her notice of appeal on July 21 in response to the June 1 decision that awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

Eventually, the punitive damages were lowered to $350,000 due to the state’s statutory maximum. The judgement that gave Heard $2 million in compensatory damages was appealed the next day by Depp, who had also been deemed responsible despite having won the case. Vasquez responded when King questioned whether they needed to prepare a plan of action in response to Heard’s appeal, “Absolutely. And we did.”

She added, “Mr Depp ended up filing his own appeal so that the court could have the full record. And she insists on continuing to litigate this matter, and we have to protect our client’s interest.” Vasquez added, “We are just hopeful that the court will uphold the verdict, which we think was the right verdict, and allow both parties to move on.” Vasquez informed King that if Heard hadn’t initially filed an appeal, they wouldn’t have done so.

She said, “This was never about the money for Mr. Depp. But in order to protect his interests, as his representative, we have to respond to the appeal with his own appeal.” One of Heard’s representatives told Entertainment Tonight during the July 21 hearing on her appeal, “We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment,” adding, “We are therefore appealing the verdict.”

The rep added, “While we realise today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.” After the Washington Post published an op-ed Heard penned about being the victim of domestic abuse, Depp sued Heard for $50 million for defamation. Although Depp’s name was omitted from the piece, it was released as news of their bitter 2016 divorce continued to dominate headlines. Depp won the case following a six-week trial when the jury unanimously agreed with him.

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