Amber Heard to settle Johnny Depp defamation suit with $1 million payment

The actress said she has 'lost faith in the US legal system' where her testimony served as 'entertainment and social media fodder'.

The actress said she has 'lost faith in the American legal system' where her testimony served as 'entertainment and social media fodder'.

Actor Amber Heard said she decided to settle a long-running defamation dispute with actor Johnny Depp, her ex-husband, after appealing a June verdict that fell largely in his favor.

Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, attorneys representing Mr. Depp, said Ms. Heard agreed to pay Mr. Depp $1 million.

“I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder,” Ms. Heard wrote in an Instagram post Monday. “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.” Mr. Chew and Ms. Vasquez said in a joint statement the settlement “reinforces Ms. Heard’s acknowledgment of the conclusion of the legal system’s rigorous pursuit for justice.” “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 attorneys said.

A representative for Ms. Heard didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ms. Heard and Mr. Depp had both asked the Court of Appeals of Virginia to review parts of a Fairfax County Circuit Court jury’s decision. In June, the seven-member jury found largely in favor of Mr. Depp after a widely watched and emotional trial weighing defamation and abuse allegations between the former couple.

The trial centered on a $50 million defamation lawsuit Mr. Depp filed against Ms. Heard in 2019 over an opinion article she wrote for the Washington Post, in which she referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Jurors also weighed a $100 million countersuit brought by Ms. Heard, in which she accused her ex-spouse of defamation.

The jury found Mr. Depp proved all three claims of defamation against his former spouse. The jury awarded Mr. Depp $15 million, which was revised to $10.4 million to meet the commonwealth’s cap on punitive damages.

The jury also found for Ms. Heard on one of three defamation claims, awarding her $2 million in compensatory damages.

The $1 million settlement detailed by Mr. Depp’s attorneys amounts to far less than the about $8 million in total damages the jury determined Ms. Heard owed her ex-husband.

The weekslong trial, held in Fairfax, Va., was live-streamed and garnered immense attention, much of which focused on Ms. Heard. Fans of Mr. Depp posted on social media throughout the trial and gathered outside the court when the verdict was reached, cheering as each of them came down.

Throughout legal proceedings, Ms. Heard and Mr. Depp denied each other’s abuse allegations. Mr. Depp previously lost a libel case in the U.K. against a British tabloid that referred to him as a “wife beater” over his alleged treatment of Ms. Heard. In her statement on Monday, Ms. Heard said she “was vindicated by a robust, impartial and fair system” in the U.K.

In the U.S., she said, “popularity and power mattered more than reason and due process.” Ms. Heard said the settlement was “not an act of concession,” adding that the legal process has taken a financial, psychological, physical and emotional toll on her.

“I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot re-live,” Ms. Heard wrote.

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