Johnny Depp hits back at Amber Heard's attempt to scrap defamation trial verdict
Fairfax, Virginia - Johnny Depp has responded to Amber Heard's recent filing to have defamation trial verdict tossed out.
The explosive court battle may be done, but the drama continues.
Days after Heard filed new paperwork to have their defamation trial's ruling set aside, the Pirates of the Caribbean star has clapped back at her latest attempt.
On Monday, the 58-year-old's attorneys insisted the $10-million award reflects the loss he actually suffered after she defamed him.
Depp's legal team gave a lengthy response to the DC star's latest filing, insisting that the Virginia court "eject Ms. Heard's baseless contention."
"Following a six-week jury trial, a jury of Ms. Heard’s peers rendered a verdict against her in virtually all respects," attorney Brown Rudnick wrote in a statement, per Deadline.
"Though understandably displeased with the outcome of trial, Ms. Heard has identified no legitimate basis to set aside in any respect the jury’s decision. Virginia law is clear that a verdict is not to be set aside unless it is plainly wrong or without evidence to support it."
Johnny Depp pushes back on Amber Heard's latest tactic
The Rum Diary star's lawyers further argued that there's clear evidence his career suffered as a result of Heard's 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post, which was the object of the trial.
Depp had no work and he didn't appear in a single studio production until October 2020, they pointed out, insisting that this fact alone supports the $10 million verdict.
The ex-spouse's bombshell defamation trial came to a shocking conclusion when the court ruled in favor of the absent-Depp and found his ex-wife guilty of all three counts of defamation in the lawsuit he brought against her.
Last week, the Aquaman star filed for a mistrial after claiming that one of the of seven jurors, identified as juror #15, was not the same person summoned to court that day.
Depp's team also argued back that Heard had the chance to object to the juror issue at the beginning of the trial, but ultimately didn't.
Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/instagram/amberheard & STEVE HELBER / POOL / AFP