Johnny Depp Did Not Win $15 Million. In Fact, He May Have Lost $2.3 Million Instead

I ran the numbers, and they aren’t what you think as there are many factors at play

Viewers worldwide have been glued to the screens watching the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial in the past several weeks. The Law & Crime Network even hit a new record in early May: 330 million people have been watching the defamation trial. The verdict was served on June 1, meaning the updated view count was much higher, albeit not released yet.

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. However, the state of Virginia caps the punitive damages at $350,000, meaning the total judgement against Heard would add up to $10.35 million. It’s important also to note that Amber also won $2 million due to Depp’s attorney accusing her of staging property damage for the police who were called to their home residence. So, just like that, it’s not $15 million anymore.

Can Amber pay $10.35 million? Does she have this kind of money? And it is really $10.35 million she’s expected to pay? According to my calculations, Johnny Depp did not win $15 million but lost $3.2m. Hear me out! I have math on my side. But let’s also figure out if Heard has the financial means to pay Depp.

What is Amber Heard’s net worth?

It’s not easy to determine a celebrity’s exact net worth. Still, since the Internet likes gossiping and theorizing about everything, especially money and drama, there are a plethora of websites claiming to know how much famous people are worth.

The figures vary depending on the source, but here’s what the World Web says:

1. CelebrityNetWorth, arguably the biggest website about the celebrities’ assets, claims the actress’ net worth was $2.5 million before the trial.
2. Fox Business puts it at $8 million.
3. KoiMoi.com also reports Amber’s net worth to be at $8 million.

That’s quite a big discrepancy, isn’t it? I’m prone to trust the first source. But the truth is, we cannot know anyone’s actual net worth unless they share it with us or their tax returns get leaked to the press.

Is it really $15 million?

I have a few issues with how the figure was calculated and what the media outlets are reporting.

First of all, if you google this, some news claim that Depp was awarded $15 million. While that’s technically true, Virginia’s law has a cap on punitive damages. Therefore, Johnny doesn’t get more than $350,000 out of the $5 million awarded by the jury. It adds up to a total of $10.35m, as stated above. Secondly, Amber also won $2 million. If I understand this correctly, the $2 million will be subtracted from $10.35m, making it an $8.35 million court judgement.

There is, however, an issue of legal fees. I was under the impression that the losing party must cover them. But when I googled the laws of Virginia, I discovered the following:

§ 64.2–795. Attorney fees and costs.

In a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust, the court, as justice and equity may require, may award costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, to any party, to be paid by another party or from the trust that is the subject of the controversy.

There’s another law which may apply and doesn’t contradict the above:

§ 16.1–278.19. Attorney fees.

In any matter properly before the court, the court may award attorney fees and costs on behalf of any party as the court deems appropriate based on the relative financial ability of the parties and any other relevant factors to attain equity.

So, the judge may award the legal fees for being paid by another party or the trust — may, but she doesn’t have to do that. And also, financial ability comes into play. I don’t think that a party with an alleged new worth of $2.5 million who just lost an $8.35 million lawsuit has the financial ability to do so. If that party’s alleged net worth is $8 million instead, then sure, it’s possible Amber Heard may become responsible for Johhny Depp’s attorney’s fees.

I would like to still direct your attention to the seemingly reasonable laws of the state of Virginia. Amber may or may not end up on the hook for those fees.

The homeowner’s insurance and legal fees

Wait, what? What does the homebuyer’s insurance have to do with Johnny Depp’s and Amber Heard’s trial? Well, quite a lot — at least with Amber.

CelebrityNewWorth reports that the homeowner’s insurance covered Heard’s legal costs in Depp v. Heard trial. Yep, that’s right: that homeowner’s insurance many of you homeowners have. I don’t have that since I’m still renting.

Now, it’s unclear whether the insurance paid Amber’s entire legal bill. It could have been a portion, or most of it, or maybe all of it. Currently, we don’t know that.

Nevertheless, the attorney’s fees have been estimated by Newsweek’s expert:

• He claims Johnny Depp’s legal costs added up to $5.5 million.
• On the other hand, Heard paid a total of $3.2 million, comprising of $3 million in legal fees and $200k in expert testimonies.

So, how much of that $3.2 million did the homeowner’s insurance cover? All of it? A half? We can’t say unless that information becomes public.

What about the $5.5 million? Doesn’t Johnny Depp have a homeowner’s insurance? So far, this wasn’t reported anywhere. But if the judge commands Heard to cover Depp’s legal costs, that’s a huge amount of money to pay. I would be surprised if that occurs, especially considering Virginia’s “financial ability” stipulation in the state law.

The IRS wants its money too

Ah, we forgot about another player in this game: the IRS. Uncle Sam wants to get paid too, eh?

According to Forbes, both Depp and Heard should expect an unpleasant tax bill from these proceedings. Here’s what they say:

1. The IRS will likely treat Depp’s income at $10.35m and not $8.35m despite him having to pay $2 million to Heard because of the way the tax laws are written. The taxes are apparently collected on income without the court judgements taken into consideration. Depp may have to pay taxes on the full $10.35 million.
2. These court proceedings may not be considered a business expense or business income as both Amber and Johnny were defending their characters and not their respective businesses. While Depp has a chance of claiming he sued Heard because she hurt his business and acting career, it’s unclear whether Amber can do the same as she’s been protecting her public image and not her acting business.
3. If that’s the case and both celebrities have to pay personal income taxes, it comes out as 37% of federal tax, plus the state tax. Forbes emphasized that California’s state tax is 13.3%, which means if both actors primarily reside in CA, the tax rate will exceed 50%.
4. Therefore, if Johnny Depp were to pay 50.3% personal tax on $10.35 million, his tax bill would amount to $5.2 million. Minus the $2 million judgment Heard won, Johnny, will get $3.2 million. It’s a huge amount of money for regular people, but not for mega-actors like Johnny Depp. Not to mention, the man has been put through a grinder and probably spent years going through the trial materials with his lawyers, plus the prep time and depositions, plus a month-length trial in May 2022. In my opinion, $3.2 million isn’t a lot for him. But he certainly exonerated himself from the public scrutiny.
5. Similarly, Heard’s tax bill will be quite horrible too. IRS may demand she pays income on $2 million awarded to her, not considering the $10.35m judgement. If Amber is compelled to pay the $50.3 personal tax, it’s just over $1 million she’d have to give to IRS. And that’s before she becomes a subject to the $10.35 million she owes Johnny!
6. Moreover, if IRS refuses to see these proceedings as business expenses, Johnny Depp may end up in the hole if he’s required to pay the entire legal fees right away. As mentioned above, the expert estimated his legal fees to be $5.5 million. If all he gets post-tax is $3.2 million, minus the $5.5 legal fees, the actor will end up with a bill of $2.3 million. That’s where the negative $2.3 million figure mentioned in the title comes from. Friendly reminder: Amber may not have the means to cover this judgement anyway. So, Depp has two irksome choices: either he ends up without full payment from Amber but with a full or partial legal bill of $5.5 million, or he may get the judgement from Heard, but then he would still be $2.3 million in the negative. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a win financially.
7. As for Heard, if the court considers her $2-million win and deducts it from the $10.35 million judgement against her, she may have to pay $1 million in taxes, and she would still owe $8.35 million to Johnny Depp. That’s a negative $7.35 million. If her homeowner’s insurance covered most or even the entire legal bill, that’s great. But if not, she might be on the hook for partial attorney fees with a baseline of $3.2 million.
8. And a cherry on top: as per Forbes, neither Depp nor Heard may not convince IRS to see their legal fees as business expenses. Just like with the trial and judgements, Johnny has a chance of claiming these were business proceedings; Heard may not be as lucky. The attorney fees may come out of their pockets, not businesses’ expense accounts.

I want to point out this is one of those times I’m happy I’m Canadian. I don’t know how you guys deal with IRS. It looks like both actors are set to lose from the trial financially.

Can Amber even pay Johnny?

Heard’s attorney indicated that Amber could “absolutely not” cover the court judgement of $10.35 million. Heard will be filing an appeal, which means this amount might be adjusted.

Who knows, maybe she’ll get the $10.35 judgement reduced. Or maybe not. If she does, though, Johnny’s negative $3.2 million may turn into $4–5–6 million or more — also in the negative.

What are their options?

I’m not an accountant, nor am I an American. My best guess is here’s what they can do:

1. Depp should find a good tax lawyer — unless he already has one — to convince IRS the trial was a business expense. That it was triggered to fix his public image and get his reputation back so that he could start securing more acting jobs. He has a chance at succeeding here.
2. Amber should do the same, although, as per Forbes, she might have a hard time proving the trial was a business expense.
3. Similarly, both actors should claim the attorney fees constituted business, not personal expenses.
4. Depp and Heard may want to strike a deal to “stretch” the judgements over many years. It’s not income until you get paid, right? You don’t pay taxes on a non-released income. Heard may not have the means to pay Depp anyway, so what income are we talking about? If the celebrities strike a deal to amortize the judgements over 5, 10 or more years, they may postpone the need to pay taxes too.

But by the end of the day, these are just my theories. Again, I’m not knowledgeable in American tax laws, plus famous people have all the resources at their disposal to get the best outcome. I’m punching above my weight here. And yet, this is what math led me to.

Conclusion

What matters by the end of the day is that Johhny Depp cleared his image and got his life back. He will no longer be known as a “wife-beater” but a victim of psychological and physical abuse subjected to a spouse’s defecation. Yes, I had to throw that one in; and yes, auto-correct changed that to “dedication” three times before it finally accepted I was writing about you-know-what.

Depp won, Heard lost. If you ask me, they both lost. But there is a chance Amber might become the one having difficulties booking jobs in the future. Or won’t she? I don’t want to speculate; as of right now, this is unclear.

All I can say is male abuse is very real, and we need to talk about it more often — at least as often as we discuss the female abuse. People of any gender can be victims of domestic abuse.