American actress Amber Heard will pay actor and ex-husband Johnny Depp $1 million to end their legal battle continuing for a long time, the case that saw the ex-spouses slinging mud on each other.
The amount is very much lower than the original $8.35 million she was ordered to pay after a trial that went on for six weeks in Virginia earlier this year. She will make the payment from her insurance.
Depp’s attorneys said in a statement that he would give the money in charity. His attorneys have been saying that it was “never about the money” for Depp. While commenting about the trial, Heard said she had “lost faith in the American legal system.” She also said that the settlement had saved her from the difficulties of further litigation and let her to finally “emancipate” herself from their marriage.
After Amber Heard had published an opinion editorial in the American daily the Washington Post, wherein she called herself a “public figure representing domestic abuse,” Johnny Depp filed a $50 million defamation case against her in March 2019.
The ex-couple, which divorced in 2017, gave statements in court in Fairfax, Va for many days, divulging vivid details of drug abuse and screaming matches. Heard maintained her allegation that Depp Continually assaulted her, choked her and once raped her with a liquor bottle. She wept many times while giving her testimony.
While Depp accused Heard of being the aggressor in the relationship, and during those times when she would become violent, he would move back. To certify their statements, both the couple played audio recordings of their fights that they made during their time together.
The jury, comprising of seven members, vindicated Depp on three different claims of defamation and awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The amount as punitive damages came down to $350,000
The seven-person jury ruled in Depp’s favor on three separate claims of defamation, awarding him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The latter sum was knocked down to $350,000 in accordance with a statutory cap.
The jury also found Depp accountable for a statement made by his counsel in which Heard was accused of orchestrating a “hoax,” which was a small consolation for one of her three counterclaims. After paying Heard $2 million, Depp received an $8.35 million net judgment in his favor.
The next month, Heard filed a notice of appeal, while her attorney cited “errors” made by the court. However, the “Aquaman” actress has now agreed to withdraw her appeal.
She posted her decision in a statement on Instagram and made clear that “There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward” and cursed the American legal system for making her testimony into “entertainment and social media fodder.”
She recalled a UK case connected to her and compared it with her experience of the US legal system. In the UK case, Depp had sued British tabloid The Sun in 2020 after it called him a “wife beater” in an article. Heard gave her statement to The Sun. In this case, the judge concluded the accusations “substantially true” and found in favor of The Sun.
Representatives for Depp expressed their satisfaction with the conclusion in a statement, emphasizing that the jury’s verdicts remain valid.
In the midst of her divorce with the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor, Heard first accused Depp of abusing her. Later, she was awarded $7 million in a settlement, and the couple signed agreements promising to keep their disagreement private.
