After the jury in the defamation, case trial passed the verdict by awarding the Hollywood actor $15 m in damages and $2m in damages to his ex-wife Amber Heard, this left many of us wondering about how someone who has effectively lost the case could be awarded such a high amount of money in damages. The main attention behind this reason turned towards Adam Waldman who defamed the Aquaman actress in his statements made to the Daily Mail newspaper.
Adam Waldman is a well-known lawyer who gained more popularity during the Johnny Depp trial. Previously, he represented the Pirates of the Caribbean actor during his divorce proceedings. He was later removed from the actor’s legal team after a judge found out that he was revealing some private information.
Adam Waldman’s Involvement in Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard Trial
We must understand the fact that the trial was not only about the defamation case filed by Johnny Depp. Amber Heard’s legal team had filed a counter-lawsuit against Depp as well. The jury passed the verdict in Johnny Depp’s favor on all three counts against Heard, confirming that Johnny Depp had been defamed by the Aquaman actress in her op-ed. Adam Waldman had told the British news outlet that the Aquaman actress committed a ‘hoax’ when she took legal support back in May 2016. In an article published on 8 April 2020, he said:
“Amber Heard and her friends in the media used fake sexual violence allegations as both sword and shield, depending on their needs. They have selected some of her sexual violence hoax ‘facts’ as the sword, inflicting them on the public and Mr. Depp.”
Following his statements, Amber Heard took on to Twitter and her comment went viral in which she was seen making fun of the lawyer for his height. Her tweet was in response to the lawyer’s social media post, which possibly had been removed by the microblogging site following the suspension of his account.
What Are the ‘Waldman Statements’ on Amber Heard’s Countersuit Against Johnny Depp?
Mr. Waldman called Amber Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse a hoax and an ambush. During the court proceedings, Mr. Depp’s legal team asked Judge Penney Azcarate to throw out the countersuit, arguing that the actress should be suing the lawyer himself instead of the actor. Later, Judge Azcarate rejected the request, saying there is enough evidence to confirm Mr. Waldman 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 lawyers, citing attorney-client privilege.
Even though the actress was awarded $ 2 million in compensatory damages but the jury did not award her any punitive damages. Amber Heard’s future seems darker compared to that of her former partner and the petition for Amber Heard to be completely removed from the movie continued to threaten her career and somehow became successful at some point.
Source: cheatsheet.com
