Amber Heard settles in Johnny Depp defamation trial
"I have made no admission, this is not an act of concession," Amber Heard says in a statement on her settlement
Aux News Johnny Depp
Months after the verdict of the Amber Heard v. Johnny Depp trial was handed down, Heard has now agreed to step away from her appeal and settle. In a statement, Heard attests that her settlement is not a concession, but the result of facing constant harassment as well as a tiresome and expensive legal process.
“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. 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,” Heard says in a lengthy Instagram post.
Heard continues, “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 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. I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder.”
On June 1, 2022, the jury ruled that Depp and Heard had defamed one another following the publishing of Heard’s Washington Post op-ed in 2019. Heard was ordered to pay Depp $15 million in damages, while Depp was ordered to pay $2 million to Heard. Both Depp and Heard filed appeals concerning the decision, with Depp’s still playing out in the courts.
In the statement, Heard also reflects on her experience in the U.S. courts compared to the U.K. legal system. In 2020, Depp sued tabloid publication The Sun for referring to him as a “wife beater” in a piece. Heard testified in the defamation trial as a key witness, which ruled in favor of The Sun.
Heard’s full statement on the settlement continues below:
“When I took before a judge in the U.K., 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. In the U.S., however, I exhausted almost all my resources in advance of and during a trial in which I was subject to a courtroom 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. Even if my U.S. 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.
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 is not uncommon.
In settling this case I’m 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.
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 I turn my attention to the growing support that I felt and seen publicly in the months since trial, and the efforts 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. 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.”
In response to the settlement, Depp and his lawyers released the following statement, per Deadline:
“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 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.”
45 Comments
Lock her up.
You first
My takeaway from all of this has been that Johnny Depp is one of the biggest pieces of shit in Hollywood.
Oh go sh!t on a bed. 🤣
Literally never happened
Bigger than the little pile of poopy left in his bed. Let us all pour our bottles of Sauvage by Dior down the gutter!
I know Dior commercials are supposed to be artsy head-scratchers, but his go well into “what the fuck was that??” territory.
Thanks for confirming that you did not watch the trial.
Lol
So is Heard
It’s amazing how much misinformation that the public believed around this and you had to do very little research to verify the facts. The American trial was a circus, and such a regression on how trials should be determined (reading someone’s body language, yikes). Heard has more proof of abuse than most women, and nobody seemed to bat an eye to the fact that Depp did admit to hitting her, or refute that she had years of reports of her own abuse before she started hitting back. The video of her calling him a victim, in the context of being abused for their entire marriage, makes perfect sense. (Even the shitting the bed story made no sense because Depp came home a month after their fight, and Heard provided texts between them that the dog regularly shit in their bed lol).Embarrassing play of events for the American legal system, but not surprising.
Maybe he brought home month-old shit. Like in a Tupperware.
Honestly the tik tok detectives would say “the Tupperware Heard had during court recess is the same one she stored her poop in awaiting Depp’s return” and use a picture of a Tupperware container she had on set 5 years ago.
Does that make it “Pooperware”?
Depp’s next endorsement.
I would also have accepted pupperware.
It’s been a little encouraging to see some people slowly changing their minds about the whole thing now that the trial is over and they’re not getting delicious gossip morsels every day, but it’s still a goddamned shame how easily the public POV was railroaded into being on Depp’s side almost entirely because he’s the more charming successful celebrity.
I ended up in the same place it seems a lot of others did – deciding that we’ll never know what really happened, but these were volatile and unstable people who should just stay the hell away from each other. And probably most other people as well.
Kind of minimizes that Heard’s abuse story is similar to most, where the victim ends up being equated to the abuser and “toxic”. Victims already feel at fault, that narrative piles on even more blame that “they deserve each other”, and so they never leave.She was abused horribly, with a shit ton of evidence of that. that doesn’t make her someone that should stay away from other people.
You may be entirely right, and I agree fully that it’s sad how many people flocked to Depp’s social media defense (none of whom of course know the man). He absolutely comes off as a scumbag addict capable of doing the things she accused him of. My point was that the trial turned into such a he said / she said shitshow (ahem) that I wished they would both just go away.
The UK case is a lot more objective and fair, and worth a glance through(the fact that people accused her of not donating the millions she pledged while not understanding that pledges work on an annual amount is telling in itself). I think this woman has been punished enough for speaking about her experience, she doesn’t need to go away just because the media dragged this out so grossly.
Lol no it’s not more objective and fair get the fuck out of here with that
You don’t think that was the plan all along?
People flocked to her defense too.
Depp was abused horribly by her too. There is evidence they both were abusive. It’s convenient for amber heard stans to pretend her abuse was just retaliatory. It’s not based in reality, but you do you kid. At this place? Most would be too timid to disagree even if that is how they feel.
same vibe as election-deniers
It’s funny, I was reading some old reviews on here from a few years ago and whenever Johnny Depp came up, there was definitely a “fuck that guy” vibe regarding his treatment of Amber. The snapback happened quick.
I think the verdict in the trial was wrong, but your outrage about consideration of body language is misplaced. In any judicial system, you’re going to have a factfinder (either a judge or jury) make determinations based in part of the credibility of witnesses with conflicting testimony. Body language is a reasonable and inevitable part of making that credibility determination.It is a challenge that abuse victims don’t necessarily present themselves the way jurors have been led to believe they “should.” And Heard in particular seemed to have a manner of testifying that felt artificial. But I don’t think scoffing at the idea that jurors should be making credibility determinations based on their own experience on evaluating truthfulness in their everyday lives is realistic.
I meant more it was regressive in the expectation of not only what victims should present as, but women too. The double standard of Depp mocking the court and everyone being ok with that, with Heard seemingly disassociating and coming across as “artificial” as being the outrageous one was kind of a clue she didn’t have a chance with this media influenced jury.At the same time, body language experts are often proven to be mostly wrong (Jena Friedman did a whole deep dive into this), so peoples perception and expectations of people on the stand is often incorrect. In this case, where the evidence collected by Heard over the years was abundant, there was no reason for them to rely on “body language” to the degree they did. So yes, in this case, it really was a regressive way to approach female victims but not surprising, and mostly shows how flawed the jury system is to begin with.
It cuts both ways. There is compelling proof of Heard faking some of her evidence, but if you’re more inclined to believe Heard then you can find a way to dismiss the sus things that she did.
She’s an abuser too
Lewis’ Law, commence
From the same website that constantly went to bat for Jussie Smollet
I always see people siding with her, or him. Seems to me they’re both awful and shared culpability for a toxic relationship. Nothing they’ve done since seems any different than what they did to each other during.
Wow, a voice of reason! What a concept!
oh come on, regardless, and even on Depp’s own admission, her violence started much later in the relationship. it doesn’t matter how morally “bad” you think she was, she didn’t deserve to be abused and then called “toxic” for fighting back against that piece of shit. it’s such a victim blamey approach that people for some reason think is the mature one.
Marrange counselor said she instigated the physical fights, so no you won’t excuse this by saying she just fought back
That’s funny because I almost always see people saying some variation on “idk they’re both terrible and a mutual love of drinking to excess is not a good foundation for a relationship,” and the ones who don’t uncritically believe everything Amber says.
ITT: Legal Twitter experts defend an abuser because “Always believe women” overrules reality in our dystopian identity first cultural climate.
I know! Isn’t it great?
man claims recognizing other identities is dystopia, while neglecting to see the irony in that (and the fear).
It’s not surprising anything to do with women is terrifying for you.
Privileged white Karen loses again. Does not learn anything from previous defeat.
Abusive addicted man with history of violence once again gets away with it.
Good, she’s not a victim and never was, admitted on tape she was abusive too. And before someone tries it: no kiddo, you won’t lie and say she only fought back due to being abused first. Evidence doesn’t support it.Cope and fucking seethe, and bonus points to the first dipshit who tries to cite the UK trial as evidence.This just ain’t it kiddies: “amber heard is a victim” is not the hill to die on. Do better.