Amber Heard secretly sells home in Southern California
According to media sources, actress Amber Heard has recently sold her home in Southern California for a big profit after she lost the defamation trial against her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in June, in which the jury had directed her to pay a fine of US$ 10.35 million to the jury.
Media reports stated that the 36-year-old actress has begun raising some of the money she lost by selling her Yucca Valley home in the California desert for $1.05 million, a profit of about $500,000 for her. She reportedly bought the property back in 2019 through an anonymous trust tied to her.
There’s speculation about Amber’s ability to immediately cover the damages, which includes $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages; she will also receive $2 million from Johnny in a counter-lawsuit, leaving her with just over $8 million to pay, as reported by media sources.
The reports of Amber selling her house came just days after she filed a notice to appeal against Johnny in the defamation case. The appeal filing came despite Amber being denied her request for a new trial.
On July 21, in the wake of Amber’s appeal application, a spokesman for Johnny told media sources, “The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr Depp, in multiple instances. We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”
Media sources added that in early July, Amber’s attorneys asked the judge to declare a mistrial; they argued one of the jurors on the case should not have been eligible to sit as his summons was intended for his father, who had the same name and address.
The request was dismissed with Judge Penny Azcarate ruling there was, “no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing,” by the juror and the jury’s verdict should stand. She also noted both sides had questioned and accepted all jury members at the start of the trial.
Amber said that she was unable to pay the fortune in damages that she owed to Johnny, which was awarded after the jury ruled she defamed her ex-husband in a newspaper op-ed piece published in 2018, according to media sources.
The Aquaman actress won one out of her three countersuits.