Amber Heard’s lawyer stated that social media posts “influenced” the jury in Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against his ex-wife. She also said that her client could not afford the $10m (PS8m), in damages.

Elaine Bredehoft made these remarks one day after Depp won a high-profile case against her ex-wife. The court awarded the actor $10m in compensatory damage.

She stated that she believed the jury couldn’t escape the intense, “lopsided,” social media frenzy surrounding this trial.

“How could you not?” They returned home each night. They have families. She said that the families are active on social media.”

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The judicial conference gave us a 10-day break. She said that there was no way they could not have been influenced.

Ms. Bredehoft was asked if her client could pay the $10m in compensatory damages.

Ms. Bredehoft called the social media coverage “horrible” and said that cameras should not be allowed in the courtroom.

It’s almost like the Roman Colosseum. She spoke about how they saw the whole case.

“I was against cameras at the courtroom and I went on recording with that and argued against this because of its sensitive nature. It made it a zoo.

Ms. Bredehoft stated that Heard had told her after the verdict that she was so sorry for all the women out there and that the result was a “setback for all women inside and outside of the courtroom.”

She stated that Aquaman’s actor, Aquaman, “feels the weight of that”.

According to the lawyer, the verdict sent a “horrible signal”.

She added that “unless you take out your phone and video your spouse beating you, you won’t believe it.”

Depp had sued Heard to recover $50m (PS38.2m), over an article in The Washington Post published December 2018 in which she called herself “a public figure representing domestic violence”.

Depp was not mentioned in the column, but he claimed it was an example “defamation through implication” since parts of the column were referring to abuse allegations she made against him after their split in 2016.

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Heard had filed a counter-claim of $100m (PS76.4m), over statements that she called a “hoax” by her ex-husband’s lawyer. These statements were published in Mail Online stories in 2020.

Depp wasn’t present in court Wednesday but the jury awarded him $15m ($PS11.9m), $10m in compensatory damages, and $5m (PS4m), in punitive damages.

Fairfax County Circuit Judge Penney Azcarate, however, reduced Depp’s punitive damages to $350,000 to conform to the state’s legal limit. This made his total damages $10.4m.

Heard stated that she would appeal the verdict which was delivered by a Virginia court on Wednesday.