The battle of the defamation lawsuits between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp was found in Depp’s favor, and quite significantly. While the battle isn’t over, as it stands now Heard owes Depp more than $8 million, and there are some questions as to whether or not she has the ability to pay it. However, it appears Heard just brought in a significant amount of cash by selling a home she owned for more than $1 million.
TMZ reports that a property in Yucca Valley in Southern California recently sold for $1,050,000, and that the property had been previously owned by Amber Heard. The exact ownership of the property had been unclear, it was purchased by a trust back in 2019. However, TMZ was able to confirm through the new owners that Heard had been the owner, though they never dealt with the actress directly.
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The property had been purchased for $570,000 back in 2019, which means Amber Heard just made a solid profit, in addition to simply freeing up the cash that was in the home. Seeing the property get sold on the heels of the verdict is certainly interesting. It’s been unclear if Amber Heard has the money to pay the verdict against her and this could be an attempt to find that money.
It’s also possible that, while this is a move made to free up cash related to the trial it’s for a slightly different reason. Amber Heard has appealed the verdict, which means she’ll likely be needing to pay her lawyers as the appeal makes its way through the legal system. In the end, if the appeal is even successful in reducing the amount of the award given to Johnny Depp, it will be money well spent.
There is, of course, a third option, which is that the house sale has no direct relationship to the legal battle. Of course, it could still end up being relevant. If Amber Heard does end up being required to pay a large sum of money to Johnny Depp, the money she just made selling this property will probably become relevant to the court. Even if the verdict forces Heard to declare bankruptcy, it won’t protect her.
The jury found both parties guilty of demanding the other, but the verdict awarded Depp significantly more. Depp was originally awarded $15 million in total damages, though Virginia law ended up reducing that to a little over $10 million. Heard was only awarded $2 million in damages, leaving a balance of about $8 million that Heard currently owes.
Considering how long it took the defamation trial itself to get to court, it could still be some time before the appeal is heard and decided. The big questions about money will certainly be on hold until the appeal is decided. At which point, there could be all sorts of new questions that will need to be sorted out.
