Amber Heard has agreed to pay Johnny Depp $1 million to settle his defamation lawsuit against her, a source familiar with the deal told Fox News Digital.
Heard, 36, will cough up the seven-figure sum to put an end to their acrimonious courtroom argument that began shortly after their split in 2016.
“It’s important for me to say that I never chose that. I defended my truth and in so doing destroyed my life as I knew it.”
— wrote Amber Heard on Instagram
“After much deliberation, I have made a very difficult decision to resolve my ex-husband’s Virginia defamation case,” she wrote on Instagram Monday.
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Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have agreed to settle their defamation claims. (Getty Images)
“It’s important for me to say that I never chose that. I have defended my truth and in doing so have destroyed my life as I have known it,” the statement said. “The slander I have 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 wanted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree with.”
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Heard added that the deal doesn’t limit her ability to talk about the fall or breakup of her marriage.
“I made no admission, this is not an admission,” she wrote. “There are no restrictions or gags regarding my voice moving forward.”
Following their 2017 divorce, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have accused each other of domestic violence. (Getty Images)
The Danish Girl star said she agreed to the deal “because she had lost faith in the American legal system.”
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She compared the US trial to Depp’s lawsuit against the Sun newspaper for branding him a “wife beater,” which he lost. Heard testified on behalf of the publisher, and her allegations of abuse were substantiated.
Actress Amber Heard (right) and her sister Whitney Heard (second from left) exit the Fairfax County Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia June 1, 2022 after Johnny Depp won a $10.35 million judgment against them. (Rod Lambey/Consolidated News Images)
“When I stood before a judge in the UK, I was vindicated by a robust, impartial and fair system,” she wrote of the 2020 London trial.
The nationally televised Virginia courthouse spectacle ended in June with a jury handing Depp a $15 million verdict against Heard for defaming him over a comment in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence.
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Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the amount to $10.35 million. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in her counterclaim, but the verdict was widely viewed as a sweeping victory for Depp.
The Aquaman actress and Depp both appealed the verdict before reaching their final settlement.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard split. Left: Johnny Depp performs with Jeff Beck (not pictured) during the Helsinki Blues Festival at Kaisaniemen Puisto on June 19, 2022 in Helsinki. (Venla Shalin/Redferns via Getty Images)
“Even if my appeal is successful in the US, the best outcome would be a retrial with a new jury having to reexamine the evidence,” she wrote of her decision not to pursue her appeal. “I just can’t go through this a third time.”
She added that the emotional and financial cost of a second trial would be too high.
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A spokesman for Depp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rebecca Rosenberg is an experienced journalist and author specializing in crime and criminal justice. Email tips to [email protected] and @ReRosenberg.