Camille Vasquez, Johnny Depp’s attorney, is setting the record straight once and for all after romance rumors between her and her client spread online.
According to an interview with People, she explained, “I guess it comes with the territory of being a woman just doing her job. It’s disappointing that certain outlets kind of ran with it or said that my interactions with Johnny—who is a friend and I’ve known and represented for four-and-a-half years now—that my interactions in any way were inappropriate or unprofessional.”
She added, “I care very deeply about my clients, and we have obviously become close. But when I say we, I mean the entire team, and of course that includes Johnny,” says Vasquez. “And, I’m Cuban and Colombian. I’m tactile. What do you want me to say? I hug everyone. And I’m not ashamed about that.”
“This man was fighting for his life and it broke my heart to see him day in and day out have to sit there and listen to the most horrific allegations being made against him,” she told the outlet about Depp. “And if I could provide any bit of comfort, then of course I would do that, whether it’s holding his hand or letting him know that we were there and we were going to fight for him because he deserved it.”
Vasquez already has a boyfriend and the “sexist” rumors about her and Depp didn’t shock her. “It’s also an unethical charge being made. It’s unfortunate and it’s disappointing, but at the same time it kind of comes with the territory. I can’t say I was all that surprised,” she said.
Vasquez served as one of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor’s lawyers together with Benjamin Chew. They represented Depp in the defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Though his name wasn’t mentioned in the op-ed published by The Washington Post, the lawyers argued it was part of an “elaborate hoax.”
On June 1, the jury finally reached a verdict that awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. On the other hand, Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages for her countersuit.
Vasquez said about the court’s judgement, “Today’s verdict confirms what we have said from the beginning, that the claims against Johnny Depp are defamatory and unsupported by any evidence. We are grateful, so grateful to the jury for their careful deliberation, to the judge and the court staff who have devoted an enormous amount of time and resources towards this case.”
