What Has Changed About Amber Heard’s Net Worth Since Johnny Depp’s Trial? Amber Heard’s net worth is negative six million dollars, or -$6 million. To say Amber Heard’s net worth and financial situation are in shambles these days would be an understatement. When the heated six-week trial between Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp concluded on June 1, 2022, Heard’s fortunes took a severe hit when she was found guilty of slander and sentenced to pay Depp $10.4 million.
Shortly after the guilty charge, Heard’s lawyers said she was in no position to pay that amount. So, where does she stand financially and what is Amber Heard’s net worth? It’s not looking great.
AMBER HEARD’S NET WORTH IS NEGATIVE $6 MILLION DOLLARS
To have a net worth in the negatives isn’t something you see every day. And there are a number of different things that contributed to this number. For starters, it’s not like Amber Heard was tearing it up at the box office or on the small screen, but she wasn’t suffering either and it was the trial versus her ex-husband that brought all her net worth earnings to light.
According to testimony given at the Depp v Heard trial, between 2013 and 2019, Heard earned a pre-tax income of $10 million. This amount came from multiple sources of income from movie and TV salaries to her endorsements. 2019 was Heard’s highest-earning year when she brought in around $3 million. From this perspective, Amber Heard’s net worth had been on the rise.
Trial testimony showed that Amber Heard was on a four-picture deal with Warner Bros. that paid her $450,000 for the first of those four films. Amber Heard’s salary related to her net worth increased to $1 million when she went to work on the first Aquaman film. Her contract then guaranteed her a $2 million payday for the Aquaman sequel (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) and if there was going to be a third Aquaman film, she would be guaranteed $3-4 million. For the Aquaman franchise, Amber Heard’s net worth was going in the correct direction.
Amber Heard also had some television money that contributed to her net worth. She was recently seen in the TV remake of Stephen King’s The Stand. The series was nine-episodes and Heard earned $200,000 per episode, for a grand total payday of $1.8 million. On top of that, the Depp v Heard trial testimony also showed that Amber Heard was working on a two-year L’Oreal contract that was paying her $1.625 for a guaranteed 20 days of Heard’s time.
On the surface, Amber Heard appears to be doing well in terms of her professional salary. Other than trying to negotiate higher money for her film endeavors, she shouldn’t have any complaints. But then there’s the “little” matter of being convicted of defamation and, to date, the judge in the case refusing to allow her and her legal team to submit an appeal. Johnny Depp was granted $15 million in damages by the judge. The first $10 million is for compensatory damages, with the remaining $5 million for punitive damages. Because Virginia law limits punitive damages to $350,000, the $5 million was immediately reduced to $350,000.
This has set Amber Heard back a whopping $10.35 million. It should be noted, though, that she was also awarded $2 million in the case, so her actual payment to Johnny Depp amounts to $8.35 million. It is now reported that her new net worth sits at minus $6 million or -$6 million dollars.
AMBER HEARD HAS SUBSTANTIAL LEGAL FEES AND HER ROLE IN AQUAMAN 2 HAS BEEN IN JEOPARDY
There is also a question of Amber Heard’s legal fees, which we are assuming up to this point has been quite enormous. It has been reported from numerous fronts that her legal fees have so far been covered by her homeowner’s insurance. It is not yet known if her insurance would also be covering her fees in damages; if they do not, Amber Heard will be in a world of hurt when it comes to paying off Johnny Depp. To solidify this point, Heard’s lawyers went on the Today Show on June 2, 2022 to speak with the show’s host, Samantha Guthrie, about the verdict and if Heard could afford the final tally. They responded without a doubt, “Oh no. Absolutely not.”
To make matters worse for Amber Heard’s net worth is the fact that her role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has either been significantly reduced or outright cut completely. What that does for her reported $2 million payday remains to be seen, but it does put in jeopardy the chances of her starring in a third Aquaman sequel, even though she is contractually set for a third film.
Obviously, she only needs to take a look at her ex’s “contractual guarantee” to star in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore for the third time as Grindelwald. That role and film as well as his future in the Fantastic Beasts franchise was taken away from him based on Heard’s allegations, although he did get paid for almost appearing in the film. In fact, Depp’s entire movie career has been greatly affected by all that is Amber Heard. For that matter, Heard’s career is taking on quite the same tone.
Amber Heard didn’t wait long to start contributing to her net worth. Shortly after she finished high school, she began appearing in music videos and TV shows like Jack & Bobby, The Mountain, and The O.C. She also grabbed roles in feature films like Friday Night Lights, SideFX, Drop Dead Sexy, and North Country.
Although Amber Heard’s career continued, she was always described, as an actress, as wooden. She has never been known to wow critics or fans with her ability to act, but more so with her exquisite looks. After a string of films from 2006 through 2010 that included All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Spin, Never Back Down, Pineapple Express, and The Stepfather. But it was in 2011 that Amber Heard’s name got a bit bigger.
After starring in the TV series The Playboy Club, Amber Heard got the role of Chenault in the feature film The Rum Diary, based on the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson. The film itself only received fair reviews and only grossed $30 million on its $45 million budget, making it a box office bomb, but it was more noted for the introduction of Amber Heard to Johnny Depp.
AMBER HEARD AND JOHNNY DEPP HAD A VOLATILE RELATIONSHIP
Depp was in a long-term relationship with French actress Vanessa Paradis at the time, with whom he had two daughters, Lily-Rose Depp and Jack Depp. Depp and Paradis had been dating since 1998, when they met on the production of their film The Ninth Gate. Rumor has it that Depp and Heard began their romance before Depp and Paradis called it quits for good in 2012. For Heard and Depp, it was an immediate roller coaster, driven primarily by drugs, drink, arguments, and making up. When they married in a modest private ceremony in February 2015, their tumultuous relationship was in and out of the spotlight and became internet fodder.
They made even more headlines when Heard filed for divorce and secured a restraining order against Depp in May 2016. She alleged in her restraining order declaration that Depp was verbally and physically abusive. The separated couple’s situation worsens. Shots were fired from both sides, and what was once a “loving” relationship devolved into an all-out war. Heard contributed an opinion piece to The Washington Post. The Sun labeled Depp a wife molester. Suits, legal actions, and even more slings and arrows
The Sun won its libel suit against Depp, but the fight was far from over. Next up was Depp vs. Heard, a $50 million suit filed by Depp against Heard, which she countersued for $100 million. We all know how that turned out and what it did to Amber Heard’s net worth. Amber Heard even took to Instagram to inform her 5.3 million followers that she will be offline for the “next several weeks” to cope with the Depp v Heard trial. She went into considerable detail about the situation, as you can see.
With that in mind, Amber Heard came back to her Instagram page to express her deep disappointment with the verdict in the trial. Although everything had been presented in court, Heard claims that the “mountains of evidence still was not enough” to help her cause. You can read her lengthy description of that below.
It’s unclear where Amber Heard will go from here. She is attempting to claim that her net worth is, well, worthless, in order to avoid paying the $8.35 million in court-ordered money. She is still attempting to appeal the verdict, so what happens next is anyone’s guess at this point. It will be fascinating to watch if she is eventually allowed to return to court. It will be interesting to observe how Johnny Depp rebuilds his career. It will also be interesting to observe where Amber Heard’s career goes after all is said and done. Or if she can turn her declared negative net worth into a positive net worth. What Has Changed About Amber Heard’s Net Worth Since Johnny Depp’s Trial?