Heard 'absolutely not' able to pay Depp $10.4 million in damages: lawyer

Amber Heard's attorney Elaine Bredehoft said the actress is unable to pay the more than $10 million awarded in damages to her ex-husband Johnny Depp

Actress Amber Heard is unable to pay her ex-husband Johnny Depp more than $10 million in damages, her lawyer said Thursday, after a US jury took the side of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star in a bitter defamation trial.

The lengthy, high-profile televised court battle ended Wednesday, when a seven-person jury found that Depp and Heard had defamed each other, but weighed in far more strongly with Depp.

Asked on NBC's TODAY show if Heard will be able to pay up, her attorney Elaine Bredehoft answered: "Oh no, absolutely not."

The 58-year-old Depp, who lost a libel case against The Sun tabloid in London in 2020 for calling him a "wife-beater," celebrated the split verdict in the case as a victory while Heard said she was "heart-broken."

The Texas-born Heard, who had a starring role in "Aquaman," did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and sought $50 million in damages.

Bredehoft said Depp's legal team worked to "demonize" Heard and suppressed crucial evidence in the trial, preventing the jurors from examining evidence of Depp's alleged abuse.

The lawyer said the ruling bodes ill for the MeToo movement and will discourage women from reporting sexual harassment and abuse.

"Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively you won't be believed." 

"The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun," Depp said in a statement.

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