Actor Amber Heard to settle defamation case with ex-husband Johnny Depp By Reuters

By Danielle Broadway and Akriti Sharma

(Reuters) – Actor Amber Heard stated on Monday she would settle defamation claims that have 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 submit, Heard stated the choice to settle with Depp was “very tough” and adopted “a substantial amount of deliberation.” The actress stated this was “not an act of concession.” In June, Depp had received 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, stated he would obtain a fee from Heard’s insurers of $1 million and Depp has pledged to donate the funds to charity.

Chew and Vasquez, stated: “We’re happy to formally shut the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear all through this course of his intent to convey the reality to gentle.”

Depp and Heard sued one another in 2022 for defamation, every claiming they have 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 attraction to the Virginia jury’s determination 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 determination on Instagram.

“It is essential for me to say that I by no means selected this,” Heard stated in her submit. “I defended my reality 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 during which ladies are re-victimised after they come ahead,” 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.

Within the submit, she additionally stated she had misplaced religion within the American authorized system and favors the UK authorized system as extra “sturdy,” “neutral” and “honest”. Heard additionally blasted the U.S. media, saying it favored “reputation and energy” over “direct proof.”

“Within the interim I used to be uncovered to a sort of humiliation that I can’t re-live,” Heard stated. “Even when my US attraction is profitable, the perfect consequence could be a re-trial the place a brand new jury must think about the proof once more. I merely can’t undergo that for a 3rd time.”