Her legal team said this was coming, and now it appears to be official. Amber Heard has taken the first steps toward appealing the verdict in the defamation case with her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Attorneys for the actress filed a notice of appeal in Virginia on Thursday, per TMZ. Her team tells the court they intend to appeal the jury trial verdict and all the post-trial motions that did not go in favor of their client in the civil case with Depp. Despite filing the notice of appeal, it does not elaborate on Heard’s appellate argument. Still, her lawyers previously indicated that she planned to appeal after a jury in June awarded $15 million in damages to Depp and only $2 million to Heard. Here is what a spokesperson for Heard had to say about the appeal:
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Of course, a spokesperson for Johnny Depp says that he and his team stands by the outcome of the trial:
“The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp in multiple instances. We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”
Earlier this month, Heard made seven post-trial attempts to fight the jury verdict, including putting forth a motion that a different juror sat in on the case than the one officially summoned. A Virginia judge denied all seven of those motions. Appeals are normal in a case like this, so this isn’t the last we’ll hear of this ongoing fight between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp.