Movies

Amber Heard settles defamation case against Johnny Depp

December 19, 2022

Amber Heard has settled her defamation case against ex-husband Johnny Depp, she announced in an Instagram post on Monday.

Heard, 36, called the decision to settle with Depp, 59, “very difficult”, adding that she had followed “a lot of deliberation”.

“It is important for me to say that I never chose this. I stood up for my truth and in doing so, my life as I knew it was destroyed. The defamation I faced on social media is an amplified version of how women are revictimized when they come forward,” Heard wrote.

In his statement, Heard called the settlement a last resort, describing it as “an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I tried to leave over six years ago and on terms I can accept.”

“I made no confession. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags on my voice,” she added.

The terms of the settlement were not immediately clear.

NBC News has reached out to Depp and Heard’s legal teams for comment.

Settlement follows contentious week-long trial

The settlement comes months after a week-long televised trial that resulted in jurors finding that Heard defamed Depp by writing a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post in which she said she had become a “personality representing domestic violence”. Although the essay never mentioned Depp by name, his attorneys said it was indirectly referring to allegations she made against him during their 2016 divorce.

During the trial, she testified in graphic terms about a sexual assault she alleged, as well as alleged incidents of physical abuse. Depp has denied all allegations of abuse.

Social media posts during the trial appeared to overwhelmingly favor Depp. Support for Heard was harder to come by, with memes and viral content bashing her in abundance online. Some online creators have said this dynamic in the online response to the lawsuit is toxic to survivors of domestic violence.

Last month, major national feminist organizations came to Heard’s defense, publishing a letter – first reported by NBC News – alleging that the defamation and harassment of Heard and her supporters was “unprecedented in the world.” both vitriolic and on a scale,” marking one of the biggest public broadcasts. of support for Heard after the verdict.

The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages; Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages, but nothing in punitive damages.

Heard appealed that verdict, which led to the settlement.

The jury’s decision was a legal vindication for Depp, who lost a UK libel case two years ago over claims he physically assaulted Heard. Judge Andrew Nicol ruled against Depp in 2020, saying a British tabloid presented substantial evidence showing Depp had been violent towards Heard on at least 12 out of 14 occasions.

“Loss of confidence in the American judicial system”

In her statement, Heard contrasted the way court battles have unfolded in the UK and the US, writing that she has “lost faith in the US legal system, where my unprotected testimony served entertainment and fodder for social media”.

Heard wrote that in the UK it “was vindicated by a robust, impartial and fair system, where I was protected from having to give the worst moments of my testimony before the world’s media, and where the court found that I was subjected to domestic and sexual violence.”

In the United States, however, “I exhausted almost all my resources before and during a trial in which I was subjected to a courtroom in which abundant and direct evidence supporting my testimony was excluded and in which popularity and power mattered more than sanity and due process,” she added. “In the meantime, I have been exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot relive.”

Heard said settling the case would allow him to spend his time “productively and purposefully.”

“For too many years I have been locked in an arduous and costly legal process, which has proven unable to protect me and my right to free speech. I cannot afford to risk a impossible bill – a bill that is not only financial but also psychological”. , physical and emotional,” she wrote. “Women shouldn’t be abused or bankrupted for telling the truth, but sadly, that’s not uncommon.”

Heard signed her statement thanking her supporters and lawyers for their work on the case, and vowed that she “will not be threatened, discouraged or deterred by what happened from telling the truth.”

“No one can and no one will take this from me,” she wrote. “My voice will forever remain my most valuable asset.”

This is a developing story. Please check for updates.

Kat Tenbarge and Kalhan Rosenblatt contributed.