Amber Heard will have to pay ex-husband, Johnny Depp several million dollars right now after the jury sided with her ex-husband on June 1, 2022. The actress was meant to pay Mr. Depp $15 million, but the amount was reduced to $10.35 million due to a Virginia state law that restricts punitive compensation. The $2 million that she won in compensation for a defamation countersuit also reduced the total payment.
Heard’s Lawyer Says The Actress Will Appeal The Court’s Decision
However, even though the jury came to a decision, Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, says the actress cannot afford the huge amount of compensation and will appeal the decision. Speaking in a recent chat with PEOPLE, legal analyst Emily D. Baker discussed the events that could unfold if Heard fails to meet the expected payment.
Amber Heard Cannot Afford To Pay Johnny Depp $10.35 Million, Legal Expert Says
She said, “It will be up to the parties, but once the judgment is entered on June 24, I wonder if the attorneys will start negotiating that judgment payment.” The legal analyst continued, “Ben Chew said in his closing argument that Johnny Depp wasn’t seeking to punish Amber Heard with money. I imagine that they will try to settle it and you’ll see a PR statement that they are not seeking to enforce the judgment.”
She went on, “If they do want to enforce the judgment, that starts a whole separate process in court, of potentially attaching property, setting up ways it has to be paid. I imagine — and if I’m team Depp, this is what I would do — they’d look at getting an injunction to stop Amber Heard from repeating statements that the jury found were defamatory and then stipulating that the payments won’t be made and there won’t be any judgment outstanding.”
Baker concluded, “If he’s not interested in the money, I think he’s more interested in her not repeating these allegations. Getting the judgement is one thing. Getting the money is a whole separate thing. The legal analyst further claimed that it is now left to Johnny Depp to decide if he will follow through on the payment or not. However, she warned that it may not look good on Depp’s reputation to aggressively follow through on the payment immediately.
The Pirate Of The Caribbean’s star latest court victory comes 19 months since he emerged on the losing side of a legal lawsuit against UK newspaper The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.”
