Celebrities

GoFundMe shuts down fake campaigns claiming to help Amber Heard pay Johnny Depp

GoFundMe shuts down fake campaigns claiming to help Amber Heard pay Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp's legal team celebrate after winning defamation case
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As the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial has concluded, fake GoFundMe accounts created for the pair are having to be shut down.

After Depp won the defamation case against Heard leaving her with a $10.35 million dollar bill to pay him, fake GoFundMe accounts were set up to allegedly help Heard pay Depp as her attorney remarked that her client couldn’t afford to.

One particular campaign was set up by someone claiming to know Heard’s legal team and was attempting to raise $1 million.

In the wake of Heard’s attorney’s comments, the fake campaigns have sprung up from people hoping to make an easy buck, but they are being removed by the fundraising site.

Some GoFundMe accounts have been set up with titles such as, “Justice for Amber Heard” and “Help Amber Heard Pay Off Johnny Depp”.

One description read: “I believe Amber and social media protected the abuser. If you can please help her.

“She will have direct access to the money. I also contacted her attorney so they can loop her in.”

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GoFundMe told Buzzfeed News: “Our top priority is to keep our community safe and protect the generosity of our donors.

“GoFundMe will remove any fundraisers unless there's a direct connection and the fundraiser has been authorised by the recipient of the funds.”

After a dramatic and tense 6-week trial, jurors ruled that Heard had defamed Depp in a 2018 domestic abuse op-ed in the Washington Post.

The ruling meant heard was ordered to pay Depp $15 million in damages, but state rules did limit that to $10.35 million.

Although Depp won the case, he was also ordered to pay $2 million to Heard for compensatory damages after his lawyer made comments about her in The Daily Mail.

Elaine Bredehoft, Heard’s lawyer, told the Today show that she and her client would be appealing the verdict as Heard can “absolutely not” pay. If she can't pay, her future wages could be seized

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