Fresh off the jury decision that ordered her to pay a $10 million defamation judgement to ex-husband Johnny Depp, Amber Heard is getting another chance to put her side of the story on the record.
It’s being reported that Heard has signed a “multi-million dollar” deal to write a tell-all book about her marriage to Depp.
Why would she do this?
Money. Duh.
Before the verdict came down, we estimated that Amber Heard had a net worth of $2.5 million. Technically, she owes Johnny $8 million because the jury also ordered him to pay her $2 million. For this reason, we currently estimate that Amber’s net worth is negative $6.5 million. This lines up with the revelation Amber’s own lawyer gave to the Today Show the day after the verdict was announced. According to Amber’s own lawyer, the actress “absolutely can not afford” the judgement.
But according to a source who spoke with tabloid magazine OK!, Amber’s book won’t be simply a cash grab:
“Amber considers her career in Hollywood over… At this point, she has nothing to lose and wants to tell all.”
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Amber Heard is in a rather unfortunate position to write any kind of tell-all book, since she’s already lost one defamation case against Depp. Repeating any controversial claims in greater detail in a book could land her in the middle of yet another defamation suit. Dror Bikel is an expert in the legal subtleties behind the divorces of the rich and famous, and he summed up the situation like this to the OK! magazine:
“To the extent that Heard wants to discuss this case and her relationship with Depp in a tell-all statement or book, she needs to be extremely careful as to what she says about him. Depp and his attorneys will be reading and listening to everything that Heard states. If she crosses the line, which is likely, there is no question that she will be hit with another defamation suit and end up right back in court.”
Of course, the unnamed publisher that closed a deal with Heard would also have its own team of lawyers on hand, to go over what’s in the book and whether anything in it would be considered defamatory. So while the book may eventually be billed as a “tell-all,” legal necessities might prevent it from actually being one.
Here’s a more likely outcome, in my opinion:
Johnny Depp hasn’t announced yet if he intends to enforce the $8 million net defamation judgment. I bet at some point in the next few weeks, Depp’s lawyers reach out to Heard and say: “if you agree to never talk about me in public ever again in any way shape or form, I won’t enforce the judgment.” And poof, this book never happens and we never hear about Johnny Depp from Amber Heard ever again. Just a theory.