Actress Amber Heard has spoken out after she settled her defamation lawsuit with her ex, Johnny Depp. The actress took to Instagram on Monday, December 19, 2022, to write, “my life as I knew it was destroyed” amid her legal battle with the Pirates Of The Caribbean star.
The Aquaman actress said, “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.
Amber Heard Speaks Out After Settling Defamation Case Against Johnny Depp: “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 and on terms I can agree to.”
She continues, “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.” In March 2019, Johnny Depp filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife after the Washington Post published an op-ed she wrote, saying she was a victim of domestic violence. Although she didn’t mention Depp’s name in the article, the story came out while their contentious 2016 divorce was making news headlines.
The whole world watched them battle in court for weeks, and in the end, the jury sided with Depp in June, 2022. The actor was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which were later reduced to $350,000 in accordance with the state’s statutory cap.
Depp was however, found liable, citing comments that his lawyer, Adam Waldman had previously made, in which he referred to the actress’ claims as a “hoax.” Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages. Amber also referred to the 2020 trial in the United Kingdom, in which a court ruled that The Sun was justified when it used the phrase “wife beater” in a 2018 article about the duo;s relationship.
“When I stood 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,” the actress writes. “In the U.S., 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 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. I simply cannot go through that for a third time.”
Heard also shared why she settle the case, saying, “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.” She also thanked her supporters and encouraged people who are being abused. “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,” she writes.
“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.”
