Johnny Depp Is Being Sued, And It’s Not By Amber Heard

While the verdict of the Depp vs. Heard trial was finally revealed on June 1st, the impact of this case is far from over. As reported by Newsweek, Johnny Depp‘s lawyers filed a motion refusing to pay the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) over $86,000 following Depp’s defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, 36. The ACLU, the non-profit organization, previously requested that the Pirates of The Caribbean actor, 59, pay the organization over $86,000 for legal costs during the trial, involving Depp’s lawsuit and the Aquaman star’s countersuit.

Court documents obtained by KFMB-TV in San Diego show that the ACLU demands that the Edward Scissorhands icon pay $86,256 after several of the organization’s witnesses testified in the trial. This is also for reimbursement for documents that the ACLU provided following subpoenas by Depp’s legal team, Newsweek writes.

On June 1st, (the same day that the verdict indicated a legal victory for Depp), the actor’s lawyers filed a motion with New York state’s Supreme Court, expressing opposition to the request made by the ACLU. “Respondents’ request for in excess of $86,000 in “expenses” associated with their Court ordered document production is not only exorbitant and unreasonable, but unsupported by New York law,” his lawyers wrote.

Depp was the true winner of the trial, and he sued his ex-wife for defamation after she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece for The Washington Post. In the article, while Heard never named Depp, he accused her of defaming him and damaging his legendary career by labeling herself as a victim of domestic abuse. The jury ultimately awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, and Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages in connection with her countersuit.

In the motion filed by Depp’s lawyers, they noted, “Mr. Depp acknowledges that New York law provides for the reimbursement of reasonable production expenses to a non-party and does not oppose reimbursing the Respondents for such reasonable expenses; but, Respondents seek reimbursement for expenses that go far beyond what was reasonably required to comply with the subpoena.”

The ACLU said, in their court document, “Prior to filing this motion, the ACLU Non-Parties sent a detailed description of their production expenses to Mr. Depp and sought to negotiate reimbursement without Court intervention. Those negotiations were unsuccessful.”

According to Newsweek, an ACLU spokesperson told the publication that under New York state law, the ACLU is entitled to “seek costs associated with complying with the requests Depp and his legal team made during the trial.” The spokesperson also reportedly noted that the “repayment requested is much lower than what it actually cost the ACLU to provide Depp with the dozens of documents he requested.”

Depp’s lawyers also wrote in their motion, “Indeed, even if Mr. Depp were responsible for these expenses under New York law (which he is not) the fees incurred for these tasks are unreasonable and should be substantially reduced. For these reasons, and the reasons set forth herein, the Court should deny the Respondents’ Motion.”

During the shocking and widely viewed trial, it was revealed that several ACLU witnesses testified after “Depp demanded that the organization provide information on donations Heard made to it while the couple were married from 2015 to 2016,” as Newsweek reports. During the trial, it was also indicated that the ACLU assisted Heard in writing her 2018 op-ed that the case centered around.