Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s defamation trial has been one of the more controversial celebrity court cases in recent years. Now, Heard has made the “difficult” decision to settle the legal matter definitively. In a lengthy statement posted to her Instagram page, Heard wrote, “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.”
The actress continued, “It’s important for me to say that I never chose this. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimised when they come forward. 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. 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.” Read the full statement in Heard’s post below.
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Earlier this year, a jury found that Heard did defame Depp in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic abuse, and awarded the Edward Scissorhands actor more than $10 million. However, they also awarded Heard $2 million in a separate claim, finding that Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed her in return. Notably, just days ahead of Heard’s new statement, it was reported that Heard’s legal team filed a fresh appeal in the case, arguing that since a separate trial previously ruled in favor of Heard and her claims of abuse against Depp, the jury in their most recent trial should not have been able to declare him innocent. They also argued that the trial should have been held in California instead of Fairfax County, Virginia.
“To find in favor of Depp, the jury must have concluded that Depp did not abuse Heard and that Heard knowingly lied in accusing him of abuse. But, to find in favor of Heard, the jury must have concluded that Heard told the truth about being a victim of domestic abuse by Depp,” Heard’s lawyers wrote in the new appeal filings. “Accordingly, the verdict against Heard cannot stand.” The legal papers also stated that Heard believes the outcome will “undoubtedly will have a chilling effect on other women who wish to speak about abuse involving powerful men.” Her new statement may indicate that this appeal is no longer in effect.
