Following the verdict of Depp vs. Heard defamation case, Hollywood star Amber Heard announced that she had made the “very difficult” decision to settle the multimillion-dollar defamation case brought by her former husband Johnny Depp.
Heard suggested that she was dropping her appeal of the damages because she “simply cannot go through” another trial. On the flip side, according to Variety, Depp’s attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez had something else to say about the settlement revealing that the terms of the settlement include Heard paying Depp $1 million – an amount significantly less than the $10.35 million Depp was initially awarded – through her insurance company.
In a joint statement, the attorneys state that the goal of the trial was to bring “the truth to light.”
The statement further read, “The jury’s unanimous decision and the resulting judgment in Mr. Depp’s favor against Ms Heard remain fully in place. The payment of $1 million – which Mr. Depp is pledging and will (actually) donate to charities – reinforces Ms. Heard’s acknowledgment of the conclusion of the legal system’s rigorous pursuit for justice.”
In Heard’s Instagram post, she didn’t reveal the terms of the settlement with her 59-year-old former husband, but stated that she made this decision “having lost faith in the American legal system” where her “unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder.”
The Aquaman actress further suggested, “Now I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to.”
The defamation trial was set in action when Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 as a self-proclaimed “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Although the Texas-born Heard did not name Depp in the piece, the Edward Scissorhands star sued her for wrongly implying that he was a domestic abuser seeking $50 million in damages. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million, claiming she was defamed by statements made by Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman.
The jury found the former couple liable following a six-week trial finally awarding $10.35 million in damages to Depp. Heard then countersued, and was awarded $2 million.
Following the trial, Heard’s lawyers said that the actress did not have the resources to pay Depp the $10 million in damages. In her Instagram post, the Gully actress stated, “I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed.” Heard went on to say, “exhausted almost all my resources” before and during the Virginia set trial this past spring.
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Finally letting bygones be bygones, both of the former partners have laid the issue to rest.
Depp’s side in a statement stated, “We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light.”
On the work front, Heard will be seen in the 2023 Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Depp, on the other hand, will be seen in La Favorite in 2023.
Amber Heard admits to hitting ex-husband Johnny Depp in 2015 recording
