Johnny Depp’s hotshot lawyer Camille Vasquez finds a new Hollywood client: Overnight sensation set to represent Yellowstone star Q’orianka Kilcher in disability benefits fraud trial after actress is accused of ‘bilking $90K’
- Camille Vasquez, 39, will represent actress Q’orianka Kilcher in court battle
- Kilcher has been accused of misrepresenting her injuries to claim benefits
- California Department of Insurance made claim in investigation over the summer
- From 2019 to 2021, Kilcher received $96,838 in temporary disability benefits
- Investigation found Kilcher had worked on Yellowstone for several months in 2019 during the period she claimed to be disabled, the department said
Johnny Depp’s hotshot 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 represent actress Q’orianka Kilcher, 32, who has become somewhat of a household name through her role in the hit show ‘Yellowstone’.
Kilcher is fighting a $90,000 legal battle against the state of California after she was charged with two felony counts for worker’s compensation earlier this year.
Johnny Depp’s hotshot attorney Camille Vasquez (left), who represented the actor (right) in his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, has been hired by a new star client
Vasquez, 39, will represent actress Q’orianka Kilcher (pictured), who has become somewhat of a household name through her role in the hit show ‘Yellowstone’
Vasquez made a name for herself in Depp’s highly publicized defamation case, which 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 was awarded $10.35 million.
Heard, meanwhile, was awarded $2 million in a countersuit, after jurors found Depp defamed her through one of his attorneys.
Vasquez joined Brown Rudnick LLP in 2018 as a litigation attorney, and was offered a partner position at the firm after he big win the Depp’s trial.
In Kilcher’s case, she will work with Steve Cook, who is another partner at the firm and who specialises in white collar defense investigations.
During Depp’s trial, Vasquez found herself thrust into the limelight after defending the actor in his highly publicized case – with the jury largely siding with him.
Vasquez (pictured in court on June 1) made a name for herself in Depp’s highly publicised defamation case, which 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 was awarded $10.35 million
Heard had claimed in a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post that she was a domestic abuse survivor. A court ruled that Heard had defamed him in the article.
Vasquez was widely praised for her performance during the trial, and won many fans among Depp’s own legion of supporters. The pair appeared close during the trial, even sparking rumours that the pair were in a relationship.
However, such rumours were quashed in July when Vasquez was pictured introducing Depp to her British boyfriend, Edward Owen.
Now, she will be defending another celebrity in court.
An investigation released over the summer by the California Department of Insurance alleged 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 stars Kevin Costner.
She also portrayed Pocahontas in the 2005 movie The New World and was in the 2019 film Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
During Depp’s trial, Vasquez found herself thrust into the limelight after defending the actor in his highly publicized 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, Va., Tuesday, May 17, 2022
It was while working on Dora in October 2018 that Kilcher allegedly injured her neck and right shoulder, the insurance department said.
A year later, Kilcher told a doctor handling the insurance claim that she had been offered work but could not take it because of severe neck pain from her injury, according to the insurance department’s statement.
From 2019 through 2021, Kilcher received $96,838 in temporary disability benefits.
An investigation later discovered that Kilcher had worked on Yellowstone for several months in 2019 during the period she claimed to be disabled, the department said.
‘According to records, she returned to the doctor and started receiving disability benefits five days after last working on the show,’ the statement from the California Department of Insurance said earlier this year.
Kilcher surrendered and was arraigned on the charges in May, the statement said.
Kilcher, 32, (pictured) was charged with two felony counts of workers’ compensation insurance fraud, according to a statement from the California Department of Insurance
Kilcher’s most recent roles were in the TV series The Alienist (pictured in 2018) and as Channing Tatum’s ex-wife in Dog
Her attorney at the time, Michael Becker, said that Kilcher was a passenger in a production vehicle when she was hurt.
‘Third-party doctors verified her injury and entitlement to benefits. Ms. Kilcher was at all times candid with her doctors and treatment providers … and she never intentionally accepted benefits that she did not believe she was entitled to,’ Becker said in a statement.
Kilcher will ‘vigorously defend herself and asks that she be afforded the presumption of innocence both in and outside the courthouse,’ Becker said in the summer.
Kilcher jumped to stardom at the age of 15 in 2005 when she starred as Pocahontas in the award-nominated film The New World.
She went on to star in the film The Power of Few before landing a title role in the 2009 feature Princess Kaiulani, where she portrayed the princess during the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Kilcher also starred in Neverland, and in Firelight alongside embattled Cuba Gooding, who faces charges for forcible touching and sexual abuse. Her most recent roles were in the TV series The Alienist and as Channing Tatum’s ex-wife in Dog.
‘We are determined to defend Ms. Kilcher in this important case which examines the inherent flaws in the disability compensation system,’ Brown Rudnick LLP said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘Ms. Kilcher is a well-respected and pioneering actress in Hollywood, and we intend to clear her name.’
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Defamation Trial Timeline
In March 2019, Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife, Amber Heard, for $50million after she wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post in 2018 saying she was abused by the Pirates of the Caribbean star. However, she never explicitly named Depp in the piece but wrote that she is ‘a public figure representing domestic abuse.’
In February 2020, audio recordings obtained by DailyMail.com, reveals heard admitting to hitting Depp. ‘I f**king was hitting you… I don’t know what the motion of my hand was, but you’re fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you,’ Heard said.
In January 2021, Heard countersued her ex-husband for $100million
On April 11, 2022, the six-week trial kicked off in Virginia to discuss the abuse allegations made throughout the couples relationship. The pair married in 2015 but divorced in 2017.
On April 20, 2022, Heard admitted to getting violent with Depp as audio recording of the actress were played
On May 4, 2022, Heard took the stand to recall romance with Depp before he allegedly abused her. The actress said the abuse dated back to 2013 when Depp allegedly sexually assaulted her.
On May 25, 2022, Depp testified again and claimed Heard’s allegations were false. He claimed he never abused his ex-wife
On June 1, 2022, the judge ruled in Depp won the defamation case against Heard subjecting her to pay The Pirates of the Caribbean star $10.3 million. The jury awarded Heard $2 million after Depp’s attorney said Heard and her friends trashed her apartment before calling police.
On July 21, 2022, Heard appealed the judge’s decision in her defamation case against Depp – two months after she was subjected to pay $ 10million to her ex-husband in damages.
On July 22, 2022, Depp filed an appeal against his conviction for defaming Heard after calling the domestic abuse claims against him a ‘hoax’ – subjecting him to pay his ex-wife $2 million
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