Johnny Depp files appeal over $2 million awarded to Amber Heard in their defamation case

Johnny Depp's legal counsel has filed to appeal Amber Heard's lone win in the former couple's defamation case, wherein the judge awarded her $2 million in her countersuit. The verdict has been called 'erroneous', with Depp's team arguing that the actor shouldn't be held accountable for the comments made by his attorney, Adam Waldman.

Heard earned her small victory by arguing that Depp defamed her through Waldman, who called her abuse accusations a "hoax" in the press and remarked that she and her friends set Johnny up. The Jury agreed that Waldman acted as Depp's agent, awarding Amber the amount in compensatory damages. 

Johnny Depp files appeal over $2 million awarded to Amber Heard

In court documents published online by Law & Crime Network, Depp's attorney Benjamin Chew maintained that while the majority of the decisions were taken correctly, some rulings were 'erroneous'.

"The trial court was confronted with a number of novel and complex legal and factual issues, and although the trial court decided the vast majority of those issues sensibly and correctly, a few rulings were erroneous," the documents stated. 

Depp's team stressed that Heard provided no evidence that the former was involved in "directing or making any of the three Waldman Statements." His lawyers argued, "Mr Waldman is an independent contractor, whose allegedly tortious conduct is not automatically attributable to Mr Depp" and "no evidence of Mr Waldman's actual malice was presented at trial" by Heard's team. 

For the unversed, the Pirates of the Caribbean star sued Heard for defaming him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed article. Heard called herself a survivor of domestic abuse, hinting at Depp being her abuser. The star said that her accusations tarnished his career and reputation. 

On June 1, a Virginia court ruled in favour of Johnny Depp with Heard being directed to pay a sizeable compensation to her ex-husband. Depp was awarded around $10.4 million in damages, in contrast to $2 million for Heard, who had counter-sued. 

It is also being reported that Depp has started dating Joelle Rich, his former lawyer who represented the star in a 2018 libel case involving an international newspaper. US Weekly quoted sources mentioning, "It's serious between them. They are the real deal," and added, "Their chemistry is off the charts."

(IMAGE: AP)