Actress Amber Heard mentioned on Monday she would settle defamation claims that had been introduced in opposition to her by ex-husband and fellow actor Johnny Depp, ending years of authorized wrangling over dueling claims of abuse throughout their marriage.
In an Instagram publish, Heard mentioned the choice to settle with Depp was “very difficult” and adopted “a great deal of deliberation.” The actress mentioned this was “not an act of concession.” In June, Depp had gained a mulimillion-dollar jury verdict for his defamation go well with in opposition to Heard.
Depp’s co-lead trial counsel, Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez, mentioned he would obtain a cost from Heard’s insurers of $1 million and Depp has pledged to donate the funds to charity.
Chew and Vasquez, mentioned: “We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process his intent to bring the truth to light.”
Depp and Heard sued one another in 2022 for defamation, every claiming they had been abused earlier than and through their roughly two-year marriage.
Following a six-week televised trial filled with graphic testimony, a seven-person jury dominated in June that Heard defamed Depp, and the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star was awarded $10.35 million. The jury additionally decided that Heard was defamed, awarding her $2 million.
In July, Heard filed an enchantment to the Virginia jury’s choice that she defamed Depp when she claimed in a newspaper opinion piece that she was a survivor of sexual violence.
Representatives for Heard didn’t reply to requests for added remark after the “Aquaman” star posted her choice on Instagram.
“It’s important for me to say that I never chose this,” Heard mentioned in her publish. “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,” she wrote.
Heard went on to say she lastly has the chance to “emancipate” herself from one thing she tried to depart over six years in the past.
In the publish, she additionally mentioned she had misplaced religion within the American authorized system and favors the UK authorized system as extra “robust,” “impartial” and “fair”. Heard additionally blasted the U.S. media, saying it favored “popularity and power” over “direct evidence.”
“In the interim I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I cannot re-live,” Heard mentioned. “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.”
