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Amber Heard Wants a New Defamation Trial Against Johnny Depp

Back in March, the world watched and listened as famous exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard went to battle in an intense defamation trial. During the trial, audio recordings were released in which Heard admitted to Depp and dared him to go public with the abuse, saying that no one would believe him. There was also audio released of Depp cursing at Heard and pictures of Depp in a drug-induced state. In the end, a jury decided that Depp and Heard had both defamed each other, but Heard was more at fault, and Depp was awarded more than $10 million.

Johnny Depp Amber Heard

Credit: ABC

While Depp was awarded $10 million, he was also told that he had to pay Heard $2 million for defamation. Both Depp and Heard have appealed the judgments against them, and now, Heard is asking for a whole new trial.

In a report from The New York Times, Heard’s legal team claimed that the trial was held in the wrong state.

In their 68-page appeal, Ms. Heard’s lawyers lodged an array of legal objections, arguing that the trial was held in the wrong state and taking issue with the judge’s decision to exclude certain pieces of evidence, including contemporaneous notes from therapists that they say document allegations of abuse. They asked for the jury’s verdict to be reversed, either with a dismissal of Mr. Depp’s claims or a new trial entirely.

“The trial court improperly prevented the jury from considering several separate instances in which Heard reported Depp’s abuse to a medical professional,” the lawyers wrote.

johnny depp amber heard in court

Credit: Variety

The defamation trial began nearly 4 years after Heard published an OpEd in The Washington Post in which she called herself a victim of domestic abuse. While she did not name Depp as her abuser, she claimed that she was abused during the years that she was married to Depp.

Depp claimed that the OpEd severely tarnished his name in Hollywood and that it was difficult to get work after the OpEd came out. Depp also claimed that, because of the accusations of domestic violence, he was dropped by Disney for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, a move which cost him an estimated $22 million.

Johnny Depp Jack Sparrow

Credit: Disney

Since the ruling, The Washington Post has added a disclaimer to Heard’s OpEd — which was actually written by the ACLU. The ACLU has also gone after Johnny Depp to pay for legal fees they incurred during the trial.

About Krysten Swensen

A born and bred New England girl living the Disney life in Southern California. I love to read, to watch The Golden Girls, and love everything to do with Disney and Universal. I also love to share daily doses of Disney on my Disney Instagram @BrazzleDazzleDisney!