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Amber Heard settles defamation case with Johnny Depp

Amber Heard settles defamation case with Johnny Depp

In an Instagram post, the Aquaman star said she's dropping her appeal of the damages because she “simply cannot go through” another trial.
20 Dec, 2022

Actor Amber Heard announced on Monday that she had made the “very difficult” decision to settle the multimillion dollar defamation case brought by her former husband Johnny Depp.

Heard, in a post on Instagram, did not reveal the terms of the settlement, which comes after a Virginia jury ordered her to pay $10 million to the Pirates of the Caribbean star.

The entertainment website TMZ, citing sources with direct knowledge, said the settlement calls for the 36-year-old Heard to pay $1 million to her 59-year-old former husband.

Heard, who had a starring role in the movie Aquaman, said she was dropping her appeal of the damages awarded by the jury and settling the case because she “simply cannot go through” another trial.

“After a great deal of deliberation I have made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case,” she said.

“I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder,” she said.

“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,” she said.

“I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession.” The jury found Depp and Heard liable for defamation — but sided more strongly with the Pirates star following an intense six-week trial riding on bitterly contested allegations of domestic abuse.

The jury awarded $10.35 million in damages to Depp. Heard, who had countersued, was awarded $2 million.

‘Defended my truth’

Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” The Texas-born Heard did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and sought $50 million in damages.

Heard countersued for $100 million, saying she was defamed by statements made by Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, who told the Daily Mail her abuse claims were a “hoax.” The case, live streamed to millions, featured lurid and intimate details about the Hollywood celebrities’ private lives. Heard’s lawyers said following the trial that the actress did not have the resources to pay Depp the $10 million in damages.

In her Instagram post, Heard said she “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 revictimised when they come forward,” she said. “I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot relive.

“Even if my US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a retrial where a new jury would have to consider the evidence again,” she said. “I simply cannot go through that for a third time.”

Originally published in Dawn, December 20th, 2022

Comments

NYS Dec 20, 2022 11:44am
When Aamerican court stiffly verdict against ,she felt of herself not vicious enough mass bête noire better to surrender
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Johnw Dec 20, 2022 11:46am
I settled because the victim card didn't help me in Virginia and nobody trusts my versions any more.
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FAZ Dec 20, 2022 11:47am
Summary for readers.. "Acha sorry!"
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ABKhan Dec 20, 2022 12:19pm
Same old tactics. Nobody buys your woman card anymore
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Mahmood Dec 20, 2022 01:05pm
Ouch! She filed the case to milk him for hundreds of millions! Instead is ordred to pay $10 Million to her ex,, probably half her networth!
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Dr. Salaria Amir Ahmed Dec 20, 2022 01:22pm
What goes around comes around
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Iran Baloch Dec 20, 2022 01:37pm
false victim card expired. lying and deceit was eventually exposed and her gender didn't compensate for that.
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Zak Dec 20, 2022 01:55pm
Maganimous of Depp to accept $1 million to settle.
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Babu Dec 20, 2022 02:15pm
Drama Queen!!!
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Nir Dec 20, 2022 02:45pm
Bad for her credit rating.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Dec 20, 2022 03:21pm
More than 80 percent of this type of cases result in "out-of-court" settlements" since litigation is a very long, painful and expensive process in any part of the world including but not limited to U.S. and other countries of the world.
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Anonymouseee Dec 20, 2022 03:28pm
Everybody was able to see right through Amber’s lies. She got what she deserved.
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Confused Dec 20, 2022 03:32pm
So she was guilty… inoffensive people don’t settle
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Akram Lahore Dec 20, 2022 05:25pm
She is so pretty too bad she tried to take advantage of Johnny Depp. They could have been great couples.
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Cye Dec 20, 2022 06:56pm
How many millions she is getting?
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FAZ Dec 20, 2022 06:56pm
She has not just discredited herself but all women who are claiming or would claim domestic abuse.
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Dr Asim Dec 20, 2022 07:15pm
@Nir No pun intendid if you refer to the media and the financial industry.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Dec 20, 2022 08:34pm
More than eighty percent of cases like this end up in "out of court settlements" but one million U.S. dollar is a trifle amount to settle it at.
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Cye Dec 20, 2022 09:15pm
Amber Heard = Gold digger
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M. Shahid Yousuf Dec 21, 2022 02:53am
Believe all women even if they lie, cheat and damage men's reputations
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