Johnny Depp’s high-profile attorney, who represented the actor in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, has been hired by a new star client.
Camille Vasquez, 39, will be represented by actress Q’orianka Kilcher, 32, who has become a household name for her role on the hit series Yellowstone.
Kilcher is fighting a $90,000 lawsuit against the state of California after she was charged with two felonies involving workers’ compensation earlier this year.
Johnny Depp’s top attorney Camille Vasquez (left), who represented the actor (right) in his libel case against his ex-wife Amber Heard, has been hired by a new star client
Vasquez, 39, will be replaced by actress Q’orianka Kilcher (pictured), who has become a household name for her role on the hit series ‘Yellowstone.’
Vasquez made his name in Depp’s high-profile libel lawsuit the actor filed against actress and ex-wife Heard in Virginia.
After a six-week televised trial, the jury concluded that Heard defamed the Pirates of the Caribbean star. He received $10.35 million.
Heard, meanwhile, was awarded $2 million in a countersuit after a jury found Depp had defamed her through one of his attorneys.
Vasquez joined Brown Rudnick LLP as a trial attorney in 2018 and was offered a partner position at the firm after winning the Depp case.
In Kilcher’s case, she will be working with Steve Cook, another partner at the firm who specializes in white collar crime investigations.
During Depp’s trial, Vasquez was thrust into the spotlight after she defended the actor in his high-profile case – with the jury largely siding with him.
Vasquez (pictured in court June 1) made his name in Depp’s high-profile libel case the actor filed against actress and ex-wife Heard in Virginia
After a six-week televised trial, the jury concluded that Amber Heard (pictured in court June 1) defamed the Pirates of the Caribbean star. He received $10.35 million
In a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, Heard claimed she was a domestic violence survivor. A court ruled that Heard defamed him in the article.
Widely acclaimed for her performance during the trial, Vasquez gained many fans among Depp’s own legion of supporters. The couple appeared close during the trial, even sparking rumors that the pair were in a relationship.
However, such rumors were quashed in July when Vasquez was pictured introducing Depp to her British boyfriend Edward Owen.
Now she will defend another celebrity in court.
An investigation released by the California Department of Insurance over the summer claimed Kilcher fraudulently collected “over $90,000 in disability benefits” and misrepresented her injuries to medical providers.
In 2020, Kilcher played Angela Blue Thunder for four episodes of the Paramount Network Western, which starred Kevin Costner.
She also portrayed Pocahontas in the 2005 film The New World and appeared in the 2019 film Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
During Depp’s trial, Vasquez was thrust into the spotlight after she defended the actor in his high-profile case – with the jury largely siding with him. Pictured: Actor Johnny Depp hugs attorney Camille Vasquez in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, Tuesday, May 17, 2022
While working on Dora in October 2018, Kilcher allegedly injured her neck and right shoulder, the insurance department said.
A year later, Kilcher told a doctor who was processing the insurance claim that she had been offered a job but could not take it because of severe neck pain from her injury, the insurance department said.
From 2019 to 2021, Kilcher received $96,838 in temporary disability benefits.
An investigation later found Kilcher worked at Yellowstone for several months in 2019 while claiming to be disabled, the department said.
“According to records, she returned to the doctor and received disability benefits five days after her last work on the show,” the California Department of Insurance said in a statement earlier this year.
Kilcher surrendered and was indicted on the charges in May, the statement said.
Kilcher (pictured), 32, has been charged with two felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud, according to a statement from the California Department of Insurance
Kilcher’s most recent roles have been on the TV series The Alienist (pictured in 2018) and as Channing Tatum’s ex-wife on Dog.
Her attorney at the time, Michael Becker, said Kilcher was a passenger in a production vehicle when she was injured.
“Third-party doctors reviewed her injury and entitlement to benefits. Ms. Kilcher has always been open with her physicians and treatment providers … and she has never intentionally accepted services to which she was not entitled,” Becker said in a statement.
Kilcher will “vehemently defend herself and demands that she be presumed innocent both inside and outside the courthouse,” Becker said in the summer.
Kilcher rose to fame in 2005 at the age of 15 when she starred as Pocahontas in the award-winning film The New World.
She then starred in the film The Power of Few before landing a title role in the 2009 feature film Princess Kaiulani, portraying the princess during the fall of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Kilcher also starred in Neverland and Firelight alongside the embattled Cuba Gooding, who faces charges of assault and sexual abuse. Her most recent roles were on the TV series The Alienist and as Channing Tatum’s ex-wife on Dog.
“We are committed to defending Ms. Kilcher in this important case examining the inherent failings of the disability compensation system,” Brown Rudnick LLP said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘MS. Kilcher is a respected and breakthrough actress in Hollywood and we intend to clear her name.’
Timeline of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial
In March 2019, Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for $50 million after she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece for The Washington Post saying she was molested by the Pirates of the Caribbean star. However, she never explicitly named Depp in the piece, instead writing that she is “a public figure who portrays domestic violence.”
In February 2020, audio footage obtained by revealed it was heard punching Depp. “I frigging punched you… I don’t know what the motion of my hand was but you’re fine, I didn’t hurt you, I didn’t punch you, I punched you,” I heard said.
In January 2021, Heard sued her ex-husband for $100 million
On April 11, 2022, the six-week trial began in Virginia to discuss the abuse allegations made throughout the couple’s relationship. The couple married in 2015 but divorced in 2017.
On April 20, 2022, Heard admitted to getting violent with Depp when audio recordings of the actress were played
On May 4, 2022, Heard took the stand to recall his romance with Depp before he allegedly abused her. The actress said the abuse dates back to 2013, when Depp allegedly sexually assaulted her.
On May 25, 2022, Depp testified again, claiming Heard’s allegations were false. He claimed never to have abused his ex-wife
On June 1, 2022, the judge in Depp ruled Heard’s defamation lawsuit, ordering her to pay the The Pirates of the Caribbean star $10.3 million. The jury awarded Heard $2 million after Depp’s attorney said Heard and her friends ransacked her home before calling the police.
On July 21, 2022, Heard appealed the judge’s decision in her defamation case against Depp — two months after she was ordered to pay her ex-husband $10 million in damages.
On July 22, 2022, Depp appealed his conviction for defamation of Heard after he called the domestic violence claims made against him a “hoax” — and ordered him to pay his ex-wife $2 million