Amber Heard Says She's Settled Defamation Case Against Johnny Depp: 'I Never Chose This'
Amber Heard has settled her defamation suit with her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
In effect to the settlement, Depp's attorneys, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, released a connection to ET, which reads, "We are pleased to formally adjacent the doorway connected this achy section for Mr. Depp, who made wide passim this process that his precedence was astir bringing the information to light. The jury's unanimous determination and the resulting judgement successful Mr. Depp's favour against Ms. Heard stay afloat successful place. The outgo of $1 cardinal -- which Mr. Depp is pledging and volition (actually) donate to charities - reinforces Ms. Heard's acknowledgement of the decision of the ineligible system's rigorous pursuit for justice."
On Monday, the 36-year-old histrion posted a connection of her ain to Instagram, saying "my beingness arsenic I knew it was destroyed" amid her ineligible conflict with Depp.
"After a large woody of deliberation I person made a precise hard determination to settee the defamation lawsuit brought against maine by my ex-husband successful Virginia," Heard writes. "It's important for maine to accidental that I ne'er chose this. I defended my information and successful doing truthful my beingness arsenic I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I person faced connected societal media is an amplified mentation of the ways successful which women are re-victimized erstwhile they travel forward. Now I yet person an accidental to emancipate myself from thing I attempted to permission implicit six years agone and connected presumption I tin hold to."
The Aquaman histrion continues, "I person made nary admission. This is not an enactment of concession. There are nary restrictions oregon gags with respect to my dependable moving forward."
Depp filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard in March 2019 aft the Washington Post published an op-ed she wrote astir being the unfortunate of home violence. Depp's sanction was not mentioned successful the article, however, the communicative came retired arsenic their contentious 2016 divorcement continued to marque quality headlines.
After weeks of back-and-forth successful the courtroom, the assemblage yet sided with Depp successful June, and the 59-year-old histrion was awarded $10 cardinal successful compensatory damages and $5 cardinal successful punitive damages. The punitive damages, however, were aboriginal reduced to $350,000 successful accordance with the state's statutory cap.
While Depp won the defamation proceedings against his ex-wife in sweeping fashion, the aforesaid assemblage that awarded Depp that triumph besides recovered helium was liable, citing comments antecedently made by Depp's lawyer, Adam Waldman, successful which helium referred to Heard's claims arsenic a "hoax." That counterclaim awarded Heard $2 cardinal successful compensatory damages.
In her caller statement, Heard besides references the 2020 trial in the United Kingdom, successful which a tribunal ruled that The Sun was justified successful its usage of the operation "wife beater" successful a 2018 nonfiction astir Depp's narration with Heard.
"When I stood earlier a justice successful the U.K., I was vindicated by a robust, impartial and just system, wherever I was protected from having to springiness the worst moments of my grounds successful beforehand of the world’s media, and wherever the tribunal recovered that I was subjected to home and intersexual violence," she writes. "In the U.S., however, I exhausted astir each my resources successful beforehand of and during a proceedings successful which I was subjected to a courtroom that successful which abundant, nonstop grounds that corroborated my grounds was excluded and successful which popularity and powerfulness mattered much than crushed and owed process. In the interim I was exposed to a benignant of humiliation that I simply cannot relive. Even if my US entreaty is successful, the champion result would beryllium a retrial wherever a caller assemblage would person to see the grounds again. I simply cannot spell done that for a 3rd time."
Further stating her reasons for settling the case, Heard continues, "In settling this lawsuit I americium besides choosing the state to dedicate my clip to the enactment that helped maine heal aft my divorce; enactment that exists successful realms successful which I consciousness seen, heard and believed, and successful which I cognize I tin effect change. I volition not beryllium threatened, disheartened oregon dissuaded by what happened from speaking the truth. No 1 tin and nary 1 volition instrumentality that from me. My dependable everlastingly remains the astir invaluable plus I have."
Heard concludes her connection with a connection of gratitude to her ineligible squad and supporters arsenic good arsenic encouragement to anyone suffering from home abuse.
"I’d similar to convey my outstanding appellate and archetypal proceedings teams for their relentless hard work. I privation to convey everyone who has supported maine and crook my attraction to the increasing enactment that I’ve felt and seen publically successful the months since trial, and the efforts that person been made to amusement solidarity with my story," she writes. "Any subsister knows that the quality to archer their communicative often feels similar the lone relief, and I cannot find capable words to archer you the anticipation your content successful maine inspires, not conscionable for me, but for each of you."
The mates had been joined for 2 years earlier divorcing successful 2017. ET has reached retired to Heard's ineligible team regarding the settlement.
If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize is experiencing home violence, telephone the National Domestic Violence Hotline astatine 1-800-799-7233, oregon spell to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential.
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