Both sides have now appealed a June 1 verdict, which awarded Depp more than $10 million for Heard's Washington Post op-ed and Heard $2 million for statements made by Depp's lawyer, and argue that statements at issue can't be defamatory because they're either true or protected opinion.
In October, Depp also appealed part of the verdict awarding Heard $2 million for defamatory statements from his lawyer, Adam Waldman, while moving to affirm the rest of the judgment.
But statements that can’t be proven factually false can’t be held defamatory. With the exception of the op-ed’s headline stating, “I spoke up against sexual violence,” which is objectively true, Heard said that all three of the challenged statements are “protected opinion.” She argued the case should’ve never reached a jury.
Depp maintained that the op-ed implied he abused Heard because readers would understand the words “two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse” to refer to domestic violence proceedings that led to the restraining order. He claimed that Heard “revived” the abuse allegations by describing the public backlash she faced.
Another major focus of Heard’s appeal is that the case was held in Virginia instead of California, where both sides live. Judge Penney Azcarate refused to move the case because‘s servers are located in Virginia. For defamation suits, Virginia courts have held that cases should be located in “the state where the content at issue was published.
“Depp, who has considerable resources from his decades as a movie star, was able to call more than fifteen live fact witnesses who voluntarily traveled to Virginia from another jurisdiction or appeared by Webex, many of whom are employed by or otherwise financially linked to Depp,” Brown wrote.“This is a woman who burns bridges,” said Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez. “Her close friends don’t show up for her.
“Lawyers, as legal professionals, typically are not subject to their clients’ control with respect to the manner in which they provide their services,” Chew wrote. “If clients cannot control the details of their attorneys’ work, it makes little sense that clients should nonetheless be held accountable for their attorneys’ tortious actions.”
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