Amber Heard Countersues Insurance Company Over Depp Verdict

Katie JerkovichNovember 22, 2022

Actress Amber Heard has countersued her insurance company after the company asked a judge to let them out of the multi-million dollar policy the actress took out to protect her from defamation claims following her trial against ex Johnny Depp and the verdict against her.

The 36-year-old actress filed a lawsuit against the New York Marine and General Insurance Company after it reached out to a judge to get out of paying the $8.3 million Heard owes Depp after their highly publicized defamation trial, TMZ reported.

New York Marine told the judge that after a jury found the actress had committed “willful misconduct” in her defamation of Depp — under the California law — they wouldn’t have to cover Heard because a jury found she had committed a willful act.

Amber Heard is countersuing … https://t.co/8fsJpYmmgY

— TMZ (@TMZ) November 22, 2022

In court documents obtained by the outlet, the “Aquaman” star argued that the policy had an “unconditional deal,” which meant that New York Marine would have to pay her defense costs and judgments up to a million dollars, regardless, the Daily Mail reported. She is suing the insurer for “breach of contract” and more.

New York Marine wants the actress to pay them $621,693 in exchange for their contribution to Heard’s defense fund because the insurance company claimed its lawyers were kept out of some of the legal proceedings. The outlet noted, the insurers are now suing the actress to get out of paying for the libel settlement.

In June, a jury found that the “Zombieland” star had defamed Depp in an op-ed the actress penned in The Washington Post in 2018 about domestic violence, awarding the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star a total of $15 million in monetary damages, though that was dropped to $10.35 million due to Virginia law, as The Daily Wire previously reported.

The same jury also awarded the actress $2 million for her defamation claim after she won one of the three countersuit claims she had against Depp’s lawyer in the case.