Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have avoided another court appearance after settling their latest legal dispute out of court.
Depp originally filed a defamation lawsuit against Heard in March 2019 after Heard published an op-ed in The Washington Post describing herself as a “public figure who advocates domestic violence.”
In June, after a lengthy trial, a Virginia jury ruled that Depp and Heard had defamed each other. Heard by posting the comment and Depp via a statement from his attorney accusing Heard of committing a “joke.”
Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, the latter amount reduced to $350,000 to meet a statutory cap.
Depp was ordered to pay Heard $2 million.
The following month, Heard appealed.
However, it appears she has now agreed to withdraw her appeal after settling out of court with her ex.
In a statement announcing her decision, Heard clarified that “there are no restrictions or gags regarding my vote to move forward,” and blasted the US legal system for failing to accept her statement in “Entertainment and Social Media.” -Media-Fodder”.
Read her full statement below:
“After much deliberation, I have made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case my ex-husband brought against me in Virginia.
It’s important for me to say that I never made that choice. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The slander I’ve faced on social media is an amplified version of how women fall victim again when they come forward. Now I finally have the opportunity to emancipate myself from something I tried to leave over six years ago, on terms I can agree to. I didn’t make an admission, that’s not an admission. There are no restrictions or gags regarding my voice moving forward.
With this decision, I lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder.
When I appeared before a judge in the UK, I was vindicated by a robust, impartial and fair system in which I was protected from having to make the worst moments of my testimony to the world’s media and in which the court found that I was subjected to domestic and sexual violence. In the United States, however, I exhausted nearly all my resources before and during a trial in which I was exposed to a courtroom where copious amounts of direct evidence supporting my testimony was excluded, and where popularity and power counted for more than reason and due process. In the meantime, I’ve been subjected to a kind of humiliation that I just can’t live through anymore. Even if my US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a retrial, which would require a new jury to consider age of evidence. I just can’t go through this a third time.
Time is precious and I want to use it productively and sensibly. For too many years I have been locked in an arduous and expensive legal process that has proven incapable of protecting me and my right to free speech. I can’t afford to risk an impossible calculation – one that’s not just financial, but psychological, physical and emotional. Women shouldn’t face abuse or bankruptcy for speaking their truth, but unfortunately that’s not uncommon.
In settling this case, I also choose the freedom to devote my time to the work that helped me heal from my divorce; Work that exists in areas where I feel seen, heard, believed, and know I can make a difference.
I will not be threatened, discouraged, or dissuaded from telling the truth by what happened. Nobody can or wants to take that away from me. My voice will always be the most valuable asset I have.
I would like to thank my outstanding Appellations and Original Trials teams for their tireless hard work. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me and I turn my attention to the growing support I have felt and seen publicly in the months since the trial and the efforts made to show solidarity with my story . Every survivor knows that often the only relief is the opportunity to tell their story. I cannot find enough words to express the hope that your belief in me inspires. Not just for me, but for all of you.
Thank you very much. See you later.
“
There’s more to come…