The New York Marine and General Insurance Company has filed a lawsuit against Amber Heard in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The insurer provided $1 million of insurance coverage for the actress from July 18, 2018, through July 18, 2019, a time period that was factually critical for the defamation case from this summer. That insured time frame includes the date that Heard wrote and retweeted the op-ed featured in the Washington Post, claiming that she was a "public figure representing domestic abuse." The insured time period also includes the date the Depp defamation lawsuit was filed, March 1, 2019.

New York Marine is suing Heard with three requests: (1) that it be absolved of any duty to pay for her defense in the recent defamation case by her ex-husband Johnny Depp, (2) that it not be required to pay the multi-million dollar judgment Depp won against her on June 1, and (3) that it not have to pay any costs of the ongoing litigation associated with Heard's appeal.

In the complaint, New York Marine points out that California insurance law provides that although an insurance company may be liable for an insured party's negligence, "an insurer is not liable for a loss caused by the willful act of the insured[.]" The insurer argues that since the Virginia jury found Heard to have acted with actual malice, or willfully when defaming Depp, the company should not have to indemnify Heard.