Amber Heard is in danger of losing her career and finances after losing a high-profile defamation case against ex-husband Johnny Depp, which resulted in a $8.35 million damages claim.
Experts say there’s ‘no way back for Heard in Hollywood,’ adding that the dramatic six-week court battle has left the actress, 36, ‘too icky for a studio,’ raising concerns about her future earnings and career.
Throughout the trial, the actress stated that the matter has harmed her career, exposing how Depp’s lawsuit prevented her from meeting a vow to donate $7 million to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Kathryn Arnold, an entertainment business specialist, testified that Heard missed out on up to $50 million in potential earnings.
Heard faces a slew of problems in light of her trial defeat. In terms of her career, Hollywood bosses are unlikely to consider her for roles going forward. Financially, the actress and witnesses alluded to her money troubles, while the huge outpouring of support for Depp may lead to brands and companies avoiding her.
Heard may also now struggle to honour various financial commitments, including to groups like the ACLU and the financial burden may curtail an activism career that has seen her support women’s rights organisation.
The damages bill may also force her to sell off assets, including a $570,000 rural hideaway in Yucca Valley and a Range Rover she kept in the divorce from Depp.
The main question, however, will be how Heard will cover the huge damages bill, which she has 30 years to pay. Attorney Sandra Spurgeon of Spurgeon Law Group in Lexington, Kentucky, suggested one possibility could be Depp waiving the bill or negotiating a lower amount.
She told CBS MoneyWatch: ‘He’s [Depp] in the driver’s seat right now. For an individual who doesn’t have the ability to pay the judgment and no ability to post the bond, then there is a real issue if the winning party intends to execute the judgment.’
However, if he does force her to pay the full bill, another scenario could see Heard appeal the damages. Though an appeal with a new judge might work in her favour, she will still have to present the full amount while the appeal is considered – something that could force her to file for bankruptcy.
A third option, according to CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson, is that her future earnings could be garnished – meaning a portion of her salary from future films or TV shows could go to Depp until the debt is covered.
Ms Levinson said: ‘That’s not an unusual situation where somebody says, ‘I don’t have – I can’t fulfill this,’ and so I certainly think because she has earning potential part of her wages could be garnished as a result.’
However, the court could decided that the prospect of future work is bleak for Heard, after Hollywood experts said that the actress is unlikely to be considered by studio bosses in light of the defamation fight.
Some have suggested that she may even pivot to a career in advocacy for victims of domestic abuse – though it is difficult to see how this could help fund her legal issues.
Heard previously said she had to ‘fight’ to retain her role as Mera in the sequel to the 2018 superhero film Aquaman, and that she has been cast in only one other film in the last two years. The role of Mera has netted her around $3 million.
British PR expert Mark Borkowski said: ‘There is no way back for Heard in Hollywood. If you’re sitting there making a movie or thinking about casting it, are you going to hire her?
‘Look at the huge outcry about Aquaman 2 [where a petition to have her kicked off the film hit four million signatures last night]. The trial pollutes any marketing or PR to launch a film.’
Former entertainment lawyer Matthew Belloni, who writes about the business of Hollywood for the newsletter Puck, said: ‘Both of them will work again, but I think it will be a while before a major studio will consider them `safe´ enough to bet on.
‘The personal baggage that was revealed in this trial was just too icky for a studio to want to deal with.’
Reputation management consultant Alexandra Villa of In House PR told the Mirror: ‘Amber’s career appears to be in crisis right now. What has happened will frighten the big Hollywood studios. Smaller productions too will be wary about investing money into Amber for any project.
‘In my opinion, at this moment, producers will have to consider carefully whether they will hire her as the momentum of public opinion has shifted against her.
‘People forget Hollywood studios are businesses. They hire stars on whether they will bring in profits or not. She has a mountain to climb. Much of her testimony has holes in it and she may need to address those issues.’
Heard is also facing a petition to remove her from Aquaman in light of her battle with Depp.
The petition is closing in on its 4.5 million signature target, currently standing on 4.48 million.
Meanwhile, Spotted Media chief executive Janet Comenos said film producers are keenly monitoring data to see what the public think about Depp and Heard.
Comenos said: ‘It has come up in several conversations of ours with producers; they are curious to understand if there’s a discrepancy between the actions taken by the studios and the public’s opinion.
‘I think the results show pretty clearly that Johnny Depp is extremely hireable and that it would be a risk to a production company to hire Amber Heard because of the precipitous drop in appeal that she has had since the beginning of the trial.’
Eric Rose, a crisis management and communications expert in Los Angeles, called the trial, which lasted six weeks with a one week break, a ‘classic murder-suicide,’ in terms of damage to both careers.
From a reputation-management perspective, there can be no winners,’ he said. ‘They´ve bloodied each other up. It becomes more difficult now for studios to hire either actor because you´re potentially alienating a large segment of your audience who may not like the fact that you have retained either Johnny or Amber for a specific project because feelings are so strong now.’
Heard comes from a conservative Christian family from Texas of modest wealth and dropped out of school to pursue her acting career.
Her net worth is also unclear, with Fox Business reporting it as $8 million, while others have reported it closer to $3 million.
Heard’s finances were called into question following her divorce from Depp after it was revealed that she made several demands to support her lifestyle.
Among them, she asked for the ‘exclusive use and possession’ of the black Range Rover she drove, with Depp continuing to make payments towards the vehicle.
She also wanted to carry on living rent free in three Los Angeles penthouses she and her friends were staying in, all owned by Depp, and asked for her estranged husband to cover $125,000 of her legal and accounting fees.
Eyebrows were also raised during the trial when it was revealed she had moved into a $570,000 rural hideaway in Yucca Valley – far away from the glitz and glam of Los Angeles.
Heard grew up in Austin, Texas with modest finances, together with sister Whitney.
Her parents David Heard and Paige Parsons were conservative Catholics – though Heard became an atheist after her best friend died in a car accident when she was 16.
At 17, she dropped out of school to pursue a modelling career in New York, before switching to acting in Los Angeles.
It’s unclear if the actress is single or in a relationship, though she has been supported throughout the trial by ‘special friend’ Eve Barlow, the daughter of a Scottish GP.
Ms Barlow has tweeted support for Heard during the trial, tweeting ‘leave Amber Heard alone’ day before the judgment was delivered.
In April 2021, Heard also surprisingly announced the birth of her daughter Oonagh Paige Heard via surrogate.