As of November, it has been over five months since the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard saga was drawn to a painfully disturbing close. For both factions, it was evident that the highly publicized trial that merely examined whether Amber Heard defamed her former husband or not would outweigh the lowkey London libel case that ruled that The Sun wasn’t in the wrong for calling Johnny Depp a “wifebeater.”
Even though the latter had lost the libel case against News Group and Dan Wootton, and was later rewarded $10.35 million by Fairfax County for being defamed on The Washington Post op-ed, it now seems like the drama is far from being over for the Jack Sparrow actor.
Johnny Depp Plans to Draw Out the Amber Heard Trial
The trial that had been occupying the private and public spheres of our lives for the extended period from April 11 to June 1 was finally over and done with. Or so one would like to think. The highly inappropriate magnitude of sensationalism caused by the defamation case between The Rum Diary couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was turned into a circus event by the self-anointed critics on social media. The debate which still rages on today has long left behind the realm of accountability and the vagaries of the public seem more inclined towards proving which party is worse rather than who was responsible and for what.
Adding to the raging fire is the fuel that is Johnny Depp’s signature nonchalance. Beginning with his courtroom disposition to his MTV Video Music Award appearance as the Moon Man, it all draws out like an elaborately planned blueprint of elegant public presentation. Not a single hair out of place, the eerie composure of the Fantastic Beasts actor was largely factored into the public’s perception of the plaintiff when compared to the ugly sobbing of the Aquaman actress while she recollected her version of the events on the stand.
But while both parties still have a life to go back to — Depp to his Hollywood Vampires and Heard to the golden-hued seaside refuge of Spain — an aspect from the past still catches up to them both. Depp now seems to be holding back on the $2 million payable to Amber Heard, as can be deducted from his visit to the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Johnny Depp Appeals the Fairfax Jury Verdict of June 1
On 2nd November 2022, Johnny Depp filed an appeal stating that the verdict of June 1, 2022, which had awarded Amber Heard $2 million in compensatory damages is “wrong” on the jury’s part. His appeal invokes the incident between Adam Waldman and Amber Heard that resulted in the $2 million award and cites that the latter presented no evidence in court to substantiate the claims of defamation against Johnny Depp’s attorney. Waldman had infamously labeled Heard’s version of a 2016 incident “a hoax” which the Fairfax jury found to be defamatory against the actress.
However, Depp is not the only one hesitant to go down without a fight. On October 11, Amber Heard’s attorney filed an appellate brief that cites numerous grounds for appeal, including the London 2020 libel case verdict that should have been submitted as evidence. Both parties now look primed to face off against each other a second time after a considerable period of respite. However, the mass frenzy that will accompany the endless back and forth between the two celebrities remains obviously predictable.
Source: MARCA
