Following the jury's verdict earlier this week, where it was announced that Johnny Depp had won all three claims in his defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, Heard's lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, has spoken out and said her client will appeal the verdict. Depp was awarded $10 million in damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.
The jury also agreed that Heard was defamed on one of her counterclaims and she was awarded $2 million – this was in relation to statements made by Depp's former lawyer, Adam Waldman, who said that Heard and her friends had "spilled wine and roughed up the place" to make it appear that a property was damaged after an alleged fight.
Bredehoft has now said, during an interview with NBC News, that Heard is "unable to pay" the $10,350,000 that the verdict has ordered her to and claims evidence was suppressed in the court of law. She also said that she did not believe Heard was given a fair trial, due to the enormous amount of attention it received on both social media and by traditional news outlets.
"Really what happened here is it's a tale of two trials. Johnny Depp brought a suit in the UK for the same case," Bredehoft said. "The burden of proof was easier for him there, The Sun had to actually prove that it [them labelling Depp a 'wife beater'] was true. And the court found there – and we weren’t allowed to tell the jury this – but the court found that Mr Depp had committed at least 12 acts of domestic violence, including sexual violence against Amber."
Bredehoft added, "So what did Depp's team learn from this? Demonise Amber and suppress the evidence. We had an enormous amount of evidence that was suppressed in this case that was in the UK case. In the UK case when it came in, Amber won and Mr Depp lost."
With regards to the evidence she's alleging was suppressed, Bredehoft claims there are "very significant" medical records and texts from Depp's assistant saying Depp wept when he was told he'd kicked Heard. She adds that she believes the jury were swayed by social media, too.
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"They went home every night, they have families. The families are on social media," she said. "We had a 10-day break in the middle because of the judicial conference. There's no way they couldn't have been influenced by it and it was horrible, it was lopsided."
Bredehoft concluded that Heard has "some excellent grounds" for appealing and that she will "absolutely not" be able to pay the lump sum that the court has ruled her to. She added that the ruling is a "significant setback" for abuse victims everywhere.
Many have expressed concerns that the ruling will prevent victims of abuse from coming forward to report what has happened to them and to seek help. If you're looking for support, Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline (0808 2000 247), is available 24 /7 and offers free, confidential specialist support.
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
