Amber Heard Settles Defamation Suit With Johnny Depp

The prolonged and very public authorized battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has ended, with Heard saying on her Instagram account that she had “made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case brought against me by my ex-husband in Virginia.”

Depp initially sued Heard for $50 million, claiming that an op-ed she wrote within the Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse” sullied his popularity and value him tens of millions of {dollars}. Heard later countersued Depp for $100 million, saying her popularity was ruined when his aspect described her accusations as a “hoax.”

The seven jurors within the case in the end discovered defamation on each side of the case. They determined that Heard had defamed Depp on all three counts that have been being thought-about within the case, and awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. But they additionally discovered that Heard’s aspect had confirmed considered one of her counts of defamation, particularly the one the place an legal professional for Depp known as her accusations a hoax, and awarded her $2 million in damages.

Both sides in the end appealed the decision and the case continued till now with this new settlement. Rather than the $8.35 million Heard would have needed to pay, she is going to as a substitute pay Depp $1 million {dollars}. An announcement from Depp’s attorneys claims he intends to donate this cash to “charities.”

Heard’s prolonged assertion additionally notes…

It’s vital for me to say that I by no means selected this. I defended my fact and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I’ve confronted on social media is an amplified model of the methods through which girls are re-victimized after they come ahead. Now I lastly have a possibility to emancipate myself from one thing I tried to depart over six years in the past and on phrases I can comply with. I’ve made no admission, this isn’t an act of concession. There aren’t any restrictions or gags with respect to my voice shifting ahead. I make this resolution having misplaced religion within the American authorized system, the place my unprotected testimony served as leisure and social media fodder.

Depp’s attorneys’ assertion reads:

We are happy to formally shut the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear all through this course of that his precedence was about bringing the reality to gentle … The jury’s unanimous resolution and the ensuing judgement in Mr. Depp’s favor in opposition to Ms. Heard stay absolutely in place. The cost of $1M — which Mr. Depp is pledging and can donate to charities — reinforces Ms. Heard’s acknowledgement of the conclusion of the authorized system’s rigorous pursuit for justice.

Heard’s full Instagram publish is under.