Amber Heard's insurance REFUSES to cover Johnny Depp's suit, cites 'willful' misconduct clause
It seems problems and Amber Heard are two-sides of the same coin because she is now facing a new legal battle, this time with her insurance company. The actress had expected her insurance to cover part of the compensation to Johnny Depp after the defamation trial in Virginia. In the June 1 ruling, the actress was asked to pay $10.35 million to her ex-husband while she was awarded just $2 million.
Contrary to Heard's expectations of getting some of the $8.3 million due to Depp from her insurance company, it has been reported that the firm has declined to do so. TMZ said that the ‘Aquaman’ star’s “had a $1 million liability policy with New York Marine and General Insurance Co. The policy covers all sorts of wrongful conduct, including defamation …”
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However, because the insurance policy is in California and under its law, an insurance company is not liable to pay any amount if the insured person has engaged in "WILLFUL" misconduct. The argument put forth by the New York Marine and General Insurance Co. is that since the court had found that Heard defamed Depp with “malicious” intent, they won’t give her a penny. The TMZ report added that the “insurance company wants a declaration from the judge that based on the policy and the law, it's not responsible to foot part of Amber's bill.”
Earlier, Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft had said after the judgment that her client can’t afford to pay $10.35 million in damages to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star. She told ‘Today’ in early June, “Oh, no, absolutely not,” but had also noted that “Oh, absolutely [she will appeal]. And she has some excellent grounds for it.” Bredehoft also insinuated that the jury was not given access to all the evidence and that Depp's loss in the UK trial was not mentioned. “We even had tried to get the UK judgment in his case because he [Depp] already had his shot — and that’s one of the issues but also a number of the evidentiary issues. There was so much evidence that did not come in.”
The latest trouble in Heard’s life comes as she has reportedly demanded a mistrial, alleging that one of the jury members was replaced at the trial. Entertainment Weekly reported that as per the 36-year-old actress’ lawyers “two people with the same last name live at the address where the summons was sent in April: a 77-year-old and a 52-year-old." The elder was actually called for the trial but the 52-year-old allegedly appeared for it. “Thus, the 52-year-old sitting on the jury for six weeks was never summoned for jury duty on April 11 and did not 'appear in the list,' as required,” a motion filed by Heard's team read.
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Meanwhile, in June after losing the trial, Heard had issued a statement that read, “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband. I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback.”