Amber Heard settles defamation claim with Johnny Depp, agrees to pay $1M
WASHINGTON - Actress Amber Heard announced Monday that she has settled her defamation claim against her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Heard agreed to pay Depp $1 million to settle, according to Fox News.
Depp sued Heard for defamation following a Washington Post op-ed Heard wrote in 2018 where she refers to herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse." The trial took place in Fairfax County this spring, and ended with the judge ruling the pair had defamed each other. Depp was ordered to pay Heard $2 million, and Heard was ordered to pay Depp $15 million - which she appealed a month following the verdict. She has now dropped the appeal in settling with Depp.
"After a great deal of deliberation I have made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case brought against me by my ex-husband in Virginia," said Heard in a statement posted to her Instagram. "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. I have made no admission, this is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward."
Heard goes on to say that she has "lost faith in the American legal system," and refers to the defamation trial with Depp in the UK that ended in her favor.
Johnny Depp Trial: Amber Heard gets emotional describing harassment, 'hoax' allegation
Amber Heard's lawyers asked her to describe how claims from Johnny Depp's former lawyer that her abuse accusations were a hoax have impacted her. Heard responded in tears that she has had to relive her trauma throughout the trial, and detailed several threats made against her and her child. She concluded her rebuttal testimony by emotionally exclaiming that this trial gave her the ability to get her voice back against Depp.
"When I took before a judge in the U.K., I was vindicated by a robust, impartial and fair system, where I was protected from having to give the worst moments of my testimony in front of the worlds media, and where the court found that I was subjected to domestic and sexual violence," said Heard.