Elaine Bredehoft, the trial lawyer for Amber Heard, has officially been fired as Heard searches for new legal representation in her appeal against ex-husband Johnny Depp who took a win in the defamation suit against the co-star of “Aquaman” this past June.
A jury determined that Heard had, in fact, defamed Depp via an op-ed about domestic violence, which was published in 2018 by The Washington Post, awarding him a sum of $15 million in monetary damages. Just last month, however, Heard filed a legal motion to appeal the verdict of the suit.
“When it comes to protecting the fundamental right of Freedom of Speech, we look at the jury’s decision — to paraphrase a famous quote — not ‘as the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning,'” expressed a spokesperson for Heard in an announcement sent out on Monday. “A different court warrants different representation, particularly as so much new evidence is now coming to light.”
First Amendment attorneys David Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown are now slated to represent the 36-year-old, along with Ben Rottenborn, who was the co-counsel for Bredehoft in the Depp v. Heard trial.
Most notably, Axelrod and Brown successfully represented The New York Times in a libel lawsuit slammed against them by former GOP Republican Gov. Sarah Palin (AK).
“We welcome the opportunity to represent Ms. Heard in this appeal as it is a case with important First Amendment implications for every American,” the group stated in a joint release. “We’re confident the appellate court will apply the law properly without deference to popularity, reverse the judgment against Ms. Heard, and reaffirm the fundamental principles of Freedom of Speech.”
Bredehoft tried to downplay the shakeup, claiming that she is quite eager to finally giver her other clients more attention.
“We strongly recommended that here, and we have been assisting Ms. Heard in the process of interviewing and finding her counsel,” stated the lawyer to Fox New Digital, going on to say, “I have a pretty heavy case load, including a six-week trial this fall. My clients have been very patient, and I really need to get back to them.”
in the wake of the extremely-publicized trial, Heard seemed to throw shade at her jury while taking part in an interview with Savannah Guthrie on NBC News back in June.
“I don’t blame them,” Heard stated to Guthrie on “TODAY.” “I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”
After suggesting in the interview that the jury was not objective, but instead heavily swayed by the charm and status of Depp, Heard then emphasized that social media was entirely “unfair” to her, as well, even if you think she did create a hoax against Depp.
“I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage, behind closed doors. I don’t presume the average person should know those things. And so I don’t take it personally,” she stated. “Even somebody who is sure I’m deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media there’s been a fair representation.”
“You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair,” stated the actress.
Depp, however, has stated that the verdict finally gave him his “life back” and took aim at the media for assisting Heard in peddling a made-up story about him.