Amber Heard Pays Johnny Depp $1 Million Settlement Due From Trial

Amber Heard has reportedly paid Johnny Depp the $1 million settlement due from their defamation trial. According to PEOPLE, an insider familiar with the situation stated that Depp is splitting the payment into donations to five charities. The Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society, and Amazonia Fund Alliance will receive $200,000 each from Heard's settlement money. The outlet noted that he had reached out to Heard's reps for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

In June 2022, 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. Heard's legal team had filed multiple appeals, but the actress later revealed that she 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."

In a statement shared by Deadline, Depp's attorneys expressed satisfaction over the outcome. They also pointed out that Depp plans to donate any monetary compensation to charity. "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," the legal team stated. "The jury's unanimous decision and the resulting judgement in Mr. Depp's favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place. The payment of $1M – which Mr. Depp is pledging and will (actually) donate to charities – reinforces Ms. Heard's acknowledgement of the conclusion of the legal system's rigorous pursuit for justice."