Remember Amber Heard's dog controversy Down Under? Well, Australian courts have not forgotten
Amber Heard is reportedly still being investigated in a perjury case in Australia in connection with the importation of her two dogs into the country seven years ago. The investigation has been confirmed by a spokesperson at the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. The spokesperson also said that the case is "ongoing".
The department told Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday, June 29, "The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is investigating allegations of perjury by Ms Heard during court proceedings for the 2015 illegal importation of (her) two dogs into Australia.”
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In May 2015, when Heard was still married to Johnny Depp, the actress had brought their two Yorkshire Terriers, Pistol and Boo, into Australia without declaring the pets. The country has a very strict quarantine policy. The dogs subsequently failed to go through customs and adhere to Australia’s 10-day quarantine rule. In 2015, Heard was charged with two counts of illegally importing the animals.
The case, however, was closed after Heard pleaded guilty to falsifying travel documents in court. Heard and Depp even filmed an apology video in which Depp urged viewers to “declare everything". In the video, Heard added that she was “truly sorry” for not following the dog declaration rules, Vancouver Sun reported.
At the time, Depp told the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ show about the incident, "We were under the impression we had all the paperwork done for the dogs. We were there with the dogs in front of everybody.” However, despite the case being closed, a spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment told E! News in October 2021 that it was “seeking to obtain witness statements and once obtained, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions will consider whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant pursuance of the matter.”
Just days ago, jurors reached a verdict in the defamation claims brought by actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard after the two accused each other of domestic abuse. On June 1, a jury ruled in favor of Johnny Depp.
After deliberating over three days, the jury has now ruled in a unanimous decision that Heard defamed Depp when she called herself a victim of domestic abuse. She has been ordered to pay $15 million in damages, including $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The jury also awarded Heard compensatory damages of $2 million because she was defamed when Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman called her abuse allegations a hoax.
Depp and Heard's legal battle was over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post, where she called herself a domestic violence survivor. Depp had claimed that he was booted from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise because Heard's op-ed clearly implicated that he was the abuser. The article, however, did not mention Depp by name. The actor sued for $50 million and Heard countersued for $100 million, claiming Depp ran a smear campaign for years in an attempt to silence her and destroy her acting career.