Johnny Depp ‘wouldn’ t have filed counter appeal against Amber Heard if she hadn’t tried to reverse £8.5m settlement’

Johnny Depp’s lawyer claims they would have “moved on” and not filed a counter appeal against Amber Heard if she had not tried to reverse the actor’s £8.5 million settlement in their defamation case.

Camille Vazquez made the claim in an interview with CBS Morning to discuss both sides filing appeals.

When asked: “So is it safe to say that if she hadn’t appealed you all would not have appealed either, you would’ve moved on?”, Vazquez replied: “Yes – that’s a very fair statement.”

And when pressed on why Depp decided to file an appeal if he previously called for “time for healing”, Vazquez said: “It was expected. I mean she’s indicated since the day she lost the trial that she was going to appeal.”

She added about Depp’s counter-appeal: “It’s 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.”

Heard, 36, appealed the judge’s decision in her defamation case against Depp on July 21, two months after she was subjected to pay $10 million (£8.2 million) to her ex-husband in damages.

The ‘Aquaman’ actress was denied a request for a mistrial a week earlier after arguing one of the jurors on the case should not have been sitting as his summons was intended for his father, who had the same name and lived at the same address.

Heard was ordered to pay the fortune in damages after a six-week trial against Depp, when a jury ruled she had defamed her ex-husband in a newspaper opinion piece published in 2018.

Depp, 59, received $15 million (£12.3 million), including $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million (£4.1 million) in punitive damages.

The judge later capped the damages at the state’s maximum of $350,000 (£288,000) leaving Depp with a total of $8.35 million (£6.7 million.)

Heard won one of her three countersuits claims related to statements made by Depp’s lawyer suggesting she and her friends trashed their apartment before calling the police.

She was rewarded $2 million (£1.65 million) in compensatory damages out of the $100 million (£82.2 million) she asked for.

Depp’s representatives last week said they are confident in the verdict.