Actress Amber Heard said on Monday she would reach an agreement to settle defamation charges brought against her by ex-husband and fellow actor Johnny Depp, ending years of legal wrangling over allegations of abuse during their marriage.
In an Instagram post, Heard said the decision to settle with Depp was “very difficult” and followed “a lot of deliberation.” The actress said this “wasn’t an act of concession.” In June, Depp won a favorable jury decision and a multimillion-dollar settlement in her defamation lawsuit against Heard.
Depp’s attorneys at the trial, Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez, said the actor will receive $1 million from Heard’s insurers and that Depp has pledged to donate the funds to charity.
Chew and Vasquez said, “We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who has made clear throughout this process his intent to bring the truth to light.”
Depp and Heard sued in 2022 for defamation, each saying they were abused before and during their nearly two-year marriage.
After a six-week televised trial filled with graphic testimony, a seven-person jury ruled in June that Heard defamed Depp and the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star was awarded $10.35 million.
The jury also ruled that Heard was libeled, awarding the actress $2 million.
In July, Heard appealed a Virginia jury’s decision to defame Depp when she claimed in a newspaper article that she was a sexual assault survivor.
Heard’s reps did not respond to requests for further comment after the “Aquaman” star posted his decision on Instagram.
“It’s important for me to say that I’ve never picked this one,” Heard said in her post. “I stood up for my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I faced on social media is a magnified version of the ways women are re-victimized when they come forward,” she wrote.
Heard went on to say that she finally had the opportunity to “emancipate” herself from something she’s been trying to leave for over six years.
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
