Amber Heard officially appeals $10m defamation ruling against Johnny Depp

• Heard’s legal team submitted paperwork to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
• She was ordered to pay $10.35 million in damages for slandering Depp in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
• Heard said she felt like she had been “publicly shamed and humiliated”.

Amber Heard has filed an appeal against the outcome of her defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp.

On Thursday, July 21, Heard’s legal team submitted paperwork to the Virginia Court of Appeals, asserting that mistakes made during the trial prevented the delivery of a “just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment.”

After it was determined that Heard had slandered Depp in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, she was forced to pay $10.35 million in damages in June.

Heard said the decision had “back the clock back to a time when a woman who spoke out and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated,” and she would be appealing it right away.

The protracted trial generated a lot of media speculation, and millions of people watched court sessions live streamed. As a result, Heard received a lot of hate mail.

According to Heard’s representative, the actor expected to “ignite the Twitter bonfires” by submitting the appeal.

However, they added: “There are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”

In 2019, Depp filed a defamation lawsuit, saying Heard’s allegations of abuse were a “elaborate hoax” that had harmed his reputation and cost him his career. Heard sued Depp on her own behalf, requesting $100 million in compensation.

Depp was accused of sexually abusing Heard during the acrimonious trial in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court and of texting a friend to express his desire that “Amber Heard’s rotting corpse was decomposing” there.

Depp asserted that he would “never strike a woman,” and he disputed the sexual assault allegation. He also denied punching Heard.

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A jury concluded that Heard intentionally vilified Depp. Heard was given $2 million after the court upheld one of her accusations that Depp’s attorney had called her allegations of abuse a “hoax.”

After the ruling in June, Heard said in a statement: “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. 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.

“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.”

A spokesperson for Depp said in a statement on the appeal: “The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr Depp in multiple instances.

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“We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”