Posting on Instagram, the actress called the decision “an opportunity to free myself” from the situation with Depp.
WASHINGTON — Actress Amber Heard has settled her defamation lawsuit against ex-husband Johnny Depp, she announced Monday on Instagram.
Heard was found guilty of defaming Depp by writing a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post that made thinly veiled allegations of domestic abuse against Depp. At trial, Depp was awarded $10 million in damages and Heard $2 million in her countersuit.
“After much consideration I have made the very difficult decision to settle a defamation lawsuit brought against me by my ex-husband in Virginia,” Hurd wrote.
“It is important for me to say that I never chose it,” he wrote. “I stood up for my truth and in doing so I destroyed my life. The disrespect I’ve faced on social media is an extended version of the ways in which women are treated when they come forward. Being retargeted. An opportunity to free myself from something I tried to leave six years ago and on terms I can agree to. I’ve made no admissions. There is no concession process. There are no restrictions regarding my voice going forward.”
The case was one of the most notable events of the year, with daily updates on the tumultuous marriage between Heard, 36, and Depp, 59.
Depp filed a lawsuit against Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Is. His lawyers argued that he was defamed by the article even though he was never named in it.
The jury found in Depp’s favor on all three of his claims related to specific statements in the 2018 piece.
But in a split verdict, the jury also found that Heard was defamed by one of Depp’s lawyers, who accused him of an elaborate hoax that included trashing his apartment to make it look worse for police. was The jury awarded him $2 million in damages.
In reviewing Heard’s counterclaims, the judges considered three statements from Depp’s attorney that belied her allegations. They found that he had been defamed by one of them, with the lawyer claiming that he and friends “spilled some booze and trashed the place, got their stories straight” and called the police.
The jury found that Depp should receive $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, but the judge said state law limits punitive damages to $350,000, meaning Depp was awarded $10.35 million.
Although the case was ostensibly about libel, much of the testimony focused on whether Heard had been physically and sexually abused, as she claimed. Hurd counted more than a dozen alleged assaults.Including a fight in Australia — where Depp was filming the “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel — in which Depp lost the tip of his middle finger and Heard said he was sexually assaulted with a wine bottle.
Depp said he never hit Heard. And that she was abusive, although Heard’s lawyers highlighted years-old text messages Depp sent Heard apologizing for her behavior, as well as lewd texts he sent to a friend. In which Depp said he wanted to kill Heard and desecrate her body.