Amber Heard’s insurer is reportedly suing the actress in Los Angeles, claiming in federal court that her insurance policy does not cover any of the $8.3 million in losses that she owes her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, who won in his defamation trial against her.
Heard had a $1 million liability policy with New York Marine and General Insurance Co., but the policy does not cover “willful” misconduct, which is what the jury in the defamation case found she was liable for, according to the complaint obtained by Fox 11 Los Angeles.
The insurance company added that the jury found the defamation Heard committed against Depp was both willful and “malicious.”
Heard — who is said to now be “broke” after lavish spending, and now mounting legal fees — was reportedly relying on her homeowner’s insurance policy to cover the cost of attorney fees in the Depp v. Heard case.
Legal experts said that while using a homeowner’s insurance policy is common in defamation cases, most policies have a clause that stipulates judgment costs will not be covered.
“A lot of insurance policies provide coverage for defamation but they have an exclusion in, which says ‘We will not cover any intentional wrongdoing,'” Virginia lawyer Jeremiah Denton told New York Post last month.
Depp had sued Heard for defamation, alleging that a 2018 Washington Post op-ed — in which she described as a victim of domestic abuse — has harmed his movie career.
The highly-publicized six-week trial ended with a jury finding for Depp on all three of his defamation claims, awarding the Pirates of the Caribbean star $10 million in compensatory damages after deciding that the Aquaman actress had defamed Depp and that she “acted with actual malice.”
Now, New York Marine is asking a federal judge to order that the insurer be absolved of any duty to pay for Heard’s defense in the defamation case, that it not be required to pay the multimillion-dollar judgment Depp won against her, and that it not have to pay any costs of ongoing litigation associated with an appeal.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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