Want to take someone to court? Be prepared to shell out a solid chunk of change. You’ll need to pay court filing and service fees, discovery costs, expert witness costs, and some extremely hefty attorney fees.
Not to mention the extreme cost you may be ordered to pay the defendant if you lose the trial.
Seriously, no matter the subject, lawsuits are not cheap. Just ask Amber Heard!
Amber Heard is believed to have a net worth of -$6 million following her trial with Johnny Depp (Credit: Aurore Marechal / Abaca / Startraksphoto)
If being exposed by every nearly tabloid in existence and becoming one of pop culture’s most hated figures wasn’t enough, the 36-year-old Aquaman actress is allegedly plumb broke after losing the defamation case against her by ex-husband and fellow actor Johnny Depp.
Amber Heard isn’t just broke—she is in extreme debt. It’s now believed that the actress is worth around -$6 million. That’s right—negative six million.
Amber Heard owes her ex-husband Johnny Depp over $10 million, while he owes her $2 million (Credit: Action Press / Startraksphoto)
She was rich before the trial, though, so how did Amber Heard end up so far in the hole?
Amber Heard had an estimated net worth of $8 million before the trial with Johnny Depp
The actress spent a long time bulking up her net worth before losing it all. Amber Heard moved to Los Angeles shortly after dropping out of a private Catholic high school.
Her first roles were typical for young, attractive women in L.A.: music videos! She scored parts in music videos for Kenny Chesney’s “There Goes My Life” and Eisley’s “I Wasn’t Prepared” before transitioning to the small screen with small parts in series like The O.C., The Mountain, and Jack and Bobby.
Amber Heard plays a blonde girl called Baja Miller in the 2008 American martial arts film Never Back Down (Credit: Mandalay Independent Pictures / Summit Entertainment)
Between 2003 and 2008, the actress fulfilled a number of minor parts in television series and short films, but her breakout role was in Judd Apatow’s super stoner cult classic, Pineapple Express.
After that, Amber Heard managed to find more success on the silver screen, both in blockbusters and independent films, appearing in titles such as Zombieland, The Informers, The Rum Diary, The Adderall Diaries, and The Danish Girl.
As a result of her high-profile roles and beautiful face, Amber Heard secured a number of very lucrative brand deals, including Guess Fragrances and L’Oreal Paris. Of the latter, the actress was allegedly paid more than $1 million.
Amber Heard shows how to wear a Puma x Balmain navy hooded velvet jacket featuring gold braids with red sequined sweatpants at the PUMA x Balmain created with Cara Delevingne LA Launch Event at Milk Studios on November 21, 2019, in Los Angeles, California (Credit: Jennifer Graylock / INSTARimages)
Over the years, Amber Heard managed to claw her way to the top in Hollywood, earning an estimated net worth of $8 million. Unfortunately, she squandered it away.
After the defamation trial against Johnny Depp, Amber Heard is worth an estimated -$6 million
After divorcing Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp in 2016, Amber Heard received a $7 million divorce settlement that the actress pledged to the ACLU and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
Later, Johnny Depp alleged that the actress never actually donated any of that money to charity.
The two were embroiled in a number of lawsuits beginning in 2018 after Heard assisted in defaming Depp in an op-ed piece published, which referred to the actor as a “wife beater.” The judge found these claims “substantially true” in 2020, resulting in Depp losing his appeal in 2021.
After being found guilty of defaming ex-husband Johnny Depp, Amber Heard is now believed to be broke (Credit: John Nacion / Startraksphoto)
At the same time, Depp countersued Heard for defamation in Virginia, this time to a completely different result. Not only did Depp claim that the claims of violence on his part were untrue, but that he was the true victim of abuse!
On June 1, 2022, the jury, in this case, ruled that Depp was, indeed, not guilty. The judge ordered Heard to pay $15 million in damages for defamation, including $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. However, the punitive damages were later reduced to $350,000 as the state has a cap on these payments.
Actress Amber Heard departs the Fairfax County Courthouse on June 1, 2022, in Fairfax, Virginia (Credit: Cliff Owen / CNP / Startraksphoto)
$15 million (or $14 million, if the reduced punitive damages are considered) is undoubtedly more than Amber Heard’s net worth ever was, so it’s unlikely that Johnny Depp will ever see the full amount that the court awarded him during the trial.
However, the actress will be expected to pay as much as she is able, docking her now-elusive paychecks for the next few years. As a result, Amber Heard’s net worth has tanked to an estimated negative $6 million, as she owes far more than she has in the bank.