Johnny Depp’s lawyer says actor would’ve moved on from defamation case if Amber Heard hadn’t filed appeal

Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez spoke about why the actor decided to appeal the outcome of his defamation trial verdict in a new interview. She said Johnny would have ‘moved on’ from the trial, if Amber Heard did not insist on continuing to ‘litigate this matter’. Camille added Johnny’s legal team has a plan to ‘protect’ its ‘client’s interests’ as litigation moves forward. Read more: Johnny Depp files appeal challenging $2 million awarded to Amber Heard

Johnny Depp sued ex-wife Amber over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser. Last week, Amber had filed an appeal against the $10.35 million settlement amount awarded to Johnny in a June 1 verdict in their defamation trial.

Camille, who become well-known during the high-profile trial, recently sat down with CBS Morning’s host Gayle King for an interview and opened up about the ongoing legal saga involving Johnny and Amber. When she was asked, “Is it safe to say if she (Amber) hadn’t appealed (the outcome of the defamation trial) you all would not have appealed either? You would have moved on?” Camille responded with, “Yes that is a very fair statement,” adding, “We have to protect our client’s interests.”

Johnny’s lawyer said that the actor’s legal team will ‘protect’ him as the litigation continues. When Gayle asked Camille ‘how do you heal’ when ‘both sides are still in court arguing’, the lawyer said, “It’s a pretty standard legal procedure. We just hope that the court will uphold the verdict, which we think was the right verdict, and allow both parties to move on.”

Recently, Amber’s lawyers said that the US court, where the defamation case was being heard, ‘made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment (of the United States constitution)’. The following day, Johnny also filed a legal notice to appeal the $2 million the jury had ordered him to pay Amber in the defamation trial verdict.