ACLU demands Johnny Depp pay legal expenses after Heard verdict

Jun 03, 2022

Shannon Longworth Reporter

By Shannon Longworth (Reporter), Brent Jabbour (Producer)

Johnny Depp may have won his defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, but the American Civil Liberties Union has gone to court to ask the actor to pay its legal fees. The organization is asking for $86,253.26 for expenses related to the trial which ended this week.

The ACLU helped Heard write the op-ed that appeared in the Washington Post which was at the center of the defamation case.

The organization claims it had to review thousands of documents in response to a number of subpoena requests from Depp’s legal team. The ACLU also says it produced witnesses in the trial, including its Executive Director, which accounted for more than sixteen hours of depositions. The request also claims Depp refused concessions which would have limited the expense to the ACLU.

The documents in question were in regards to donations from Heard to the ACLU. The actress promised to donate $3.5 million of the $7 million settlement reached when the couple divorced. During the trial, a representative from the organization said it had only received $1.3 million from Heard.

For her part, Heard testified that she still plans to donate the full amount, but claimed she was delayed due to mounting legal bills as she was in and out of court with Depp.

At the conclusion of the trial on Wednesday, the jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which are limited to $350,000 in Virginia, where the trial took place. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages, with no punitive damages as part of her countersuit.

Heard plans to appeal the verdict.

Shannon Longworth: Johnny Depp’s time in court may not be over yet as the ACLU demands the actor foot the bill for their legal fees after they were brought into his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard.

In the recently filed Motion, the ACLU says Depp should pay more than 86 thousand dollars.
It’d compensate for the QUOTE “considerable expense” of working with four legal experts in response to a number of Subpoenas. Those experts were not named directly in the lawsuit.

The organization assisted Heard in writing the editorial in the Washington Post that was at the heart of the trial.

The ACLU claims it had to review thousands of documents and provided three witnesses as part of the trial accounting for over 16 hours of depositions.

The documents were regarding donations made by Heard to the ACLU. She had committed to donating $3.5 million of her $7 million of the couple’s divorce settlement to the organization.

During the trial, Heard said she had *not* fulfilled the promise due to mounting legal bills. She added that she plans to eventually follow through with the donations.