🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Amber Heard revealed she would settle the defamation case brought against her by ex Johnny Depp.
The actress issued a lengthy statement on Instagram outlining her decision, but was adamant it was not an "admission," nor "an act of concession."
Depp, 59, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post in which she said that she was a domestic abuse survivor, but did not name who had abused her. Heard had countersued for $100 million, but Depp's lawyers argued that it was obvious she was referring to the actor.
On June 1, the Fairfax County case ended, and Heard was ordered to pay Depp more than $10 million in the verdict. She had originally started an appeal to the decision before her announcement on December 19.
"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," Heard began.
"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-victimized when they come forward. Now I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago an on terms I can agree to."
Heard continued: "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.
"I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder."
Heard also said she felt "vindicated" when the former couple faced a court in the U.K. during the trial where Depp took legal action against The Sun newspaper and journalist Dan Wootton for labeling him a "wife beater."
"When I stood before a judge in the UK, 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 world's media, and where the court found that I was subjected to domestic and sexual violence," Heard wrote.
"In the US, however, I exhausted almost all my resources in advance of and during a trial in which I was subjected to a courtroom that in which abundant, direct evidence that corroborated my testimony was excluded and in which popularity and power mattered more than reason and due process. In the interim I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot re-live."
She described that even if her appeal were to be successful, it would mean a retrial where a new jury would have to hear the evidence all over again.
"Even if my US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a re-trial where a new jury would have to consider the evidence again. I simply cannot go through that for a third time," Heard explained.
The actress wrapped up her statement saying "time is precious" and thanking her legal team and all those who supported her.
"Time is precious and I want to spend my time productively and purposefully. For too many years I have been caged in an arduous and expensive legal process, which has shown itself unable to protect me and my right to free speech. I cannot afford to risk an impossible bill – one that is not just financial, but also psychological, physical and emotional. Women shouldn't have to face abuse or bankruptcy for speaking her truth, but unfortunately it not uncommon," Heard wrote.
"In settling this case I am also choosing the freedom to dedicate my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce; work that exists in realms in which I feel seen, heard and believed, and in which I know I can effect change.
"I will not be threatened, disheartened or dissuaded by what happened from speaking the truth. No one can and no one will take that from me. My voice forever remains the most valuable asset I have."
Heard concluded: "I'd like to thank my outstanding appellate and original trial teams for their relentless hard work. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and turn my attention to the growing support that I've felt and seen publicly in the months since trial, and the efforts that have been made to show solidarity with my story. Any survivor knows that the ability to tell their story often feels like the only relief, and I cannot find enough words to tell you the hope your belief in me inspires, not just for me, but for all of you.
"Thank you. See you soon."
"Any survivor knows that the ability to tell their story often feels like the only relief, and I cannot find enough words to tell you the hope your belief in me inspires, not just for me, but for all of you," she wrote.
Heard had officially appealed the court's decision in November with her legal team filing papers arguing, more than a dozen errors they allegedly committed during the trial. They also argued case should not have been heard in Virginia and key pieces of evidence against Depp were excluded by the court. Some of that evidence included the court decision from Depp's failed defamation suit and Heard's communications with medical team.
The appeal also claimed errors were made during the original trial, including that the jury was not given proper instructions about the role of actual malice in the case and the award was excessive. The filing also said that Heard did not write the online version of The Washington Post headline that was shown during the hearings, but that fact was not allowed to be brought up in the trial.
Her lawyers then called for the June verdict be reversed or terminated in favor of a new trial.
The defamation trial was closely followed around the world and thousands of social media users dissected every second of the trial
The seven-member jury found Depp was entitled to $10 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages of $5 million. Virginia state law limits punitive damages to $350,000, which brought the amount he be awarded to Depp to $10.35 million. The jury also awarded Heard $2 million in damages in her countersuit.
This is story was updated on 12/19/2022 at 10:16 a.m. E.T to include Heard's full statement and more background information.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more