After the libel jury trial returned the verdict awarding the Hollywood actor $15 million in damages and $2 million in damages to his ex-wife Amber Heard, it left many of us wondering how someone who actually lost the case could receive such an amount of money in damages. The main attention behind this reason turned to Adam Waldman who defamed the Aquaman actress in her statements to the Daily Mail newspaper.
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Adam Waldman is a well-known lawyer who gained popularity during the Johnny Depp trial. Previously, he represented the Pirates of the Caribbean actor during her divorce proceedings. He was later removed from the actor’s legal team after a judge found he was revealing private information.
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Adam Waldman’s involvement in the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard lawsuit
It should be understood that the trial was not just about the defamation case filed by Johnny Depp. Amber Heard’s legal team had also filed a countersuit against Depp. The jury returned the verdict in favor of Johnny Depp on the three counts against Heard, confirming that Johnny Depp had been defamed by the Aquaman actress in her editorial. Adam Waldman had declared to the British media that the Aquaman the actress committed a ‘prank’ when she took legal support in May 2016. In an article published on April 8, 2020, he said:
“Amber Heard and her friends in the media have used false allegations of sexual violence as both a sword and a shield, depending on their needs. They chose some of his sexual violence hoax “facts” as their sword, inflicting them on the public and on Mr. Depp.
Following her statements, Amber Heard took to Twitter and her comment went viral in which she was seen mocking the lawyer for his height. His tweet was in response to the lawyer’s social media post, which may have been deleted by the microblogging site following the suspension of his account.
Related: ‘In Spain…Nobody Accuses Her of Being an Accomplishing Liar’: Amber Heard Reportedly Moved to Europe Because She Has No Money After Her Net Worth Plunged to -$6 Million
What are the “Waldman statements” on Amber Heard’s countersuit against Johnny Depp?
Mr Waldman called Amber Heard’s domestic abuse allegations a hoax and an ambush. During the court proceedings, Mr. Depp’s legal team asked Judge Penney Azcarate to dismiss the countersuit, arguing that the actress should sue the attorney herself instead of the actor. Later, Judge Azcarate denied the request, saying there was enough evidence to confirm that Mr Waldman had made the statements on behalf of Johnny Depp and that a jury should be allowed to hear the case. And also, the lawyer refused to answer more than 75 questions from Amber Heard’s attorneys, citing solicitor-client privilege.
Even though the actress was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages, the jury did not award her punitive damages. Amber Heard’s future looks bleaker than her former partner’s and the petition to have Amber Heard removed from film altogether continued to threaten her career and somehow succeeded at one point.
Source: cheatsheet.com
