Amber Heard to appeal verdict after losing to Johnny Depp - Los Angeles Times
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Entertainment & Arts

Amber Heard announces that she’ll appeal verdict of defamation trial

Two separate photos of a man in tinted glasses and a woman with braided blond hair
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, whose legal battle will continue as the “Aquaman†star intends to appeal the court’s verdict.
(Steve Helber / Associated Press)
By Alexandra Del RosarioStaff Writer 
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Amber Heard is not backing down yet.

On Friday, the legal teams of Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp convened at a Fairfax, Va., courtroom with Judge Penney Azcarate. Instead of finalizing a settlement, Heard’s representatives said the actor will appeal the outcome of the six-week defamation trial.

“As stated in yesterday’s congressional hearings, you don’t ask for a pardon if you are innocent. And you don’t decline to appeal if you know you are right,†a spokesperson for Heard said.

The meeting comes just weeks after the contentious televised trial concluded on June 1. The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages, eventually downsized to slightly more than $10 million per Virginia’s statutory limit, and $2 million to Heard.

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According to Deadline, Azcarate told Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft that the actor will have to pay an $8.35-million bond and 6% yearly interest for the appeal to formally proceed. Bredehoft previously said that Heard is “absolutely not†able to afford the judgment, which casts doubt on the affordability of a possible appeal.

Neither Heard nor Depp were present for Friday’s hearing.

Actor Johnny Depp walks into the courtroom after a break at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 16, 2022. - Actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Photo by Steve Helber / POOL / AFP) (Photo by STEVE HELBER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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The biggest takeaways from Amber Heard’s interview on NBC’s “Dateline†about the trial with Johnny Depp.

Heard has continued pleading her case following the June 1 ruling. In her first post-trial interview with NBC’s “Dateline†and Savannah Guthrie, the actor presented more evidence, including a binder of notes from her therapist that she said would have helped sway the court decision in her favor.

Heard also said that she “absolutely†still loves her ex-husband and that she will continue to stand by her court testimony until her “dying day.â€

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Alexandra Del Rosario

Alexandra Del Rosario is an entertainment reporter on the Los Angeles Times Fast Break Desk. Before The Times, she was a television reporter at Deadline Hollywood, where she first served as an associate editor. She has written about a wide range of topics including TV ratings, casting and development, video games and AAPI representation. Del Rosario is a UCLA graduate and also worked at the Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap.

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