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The $1 million settlement Johnny Depp obtained from his ex-wife Amber Heard will go to charity, he has declared. The agreement puts a stop to Heard’s defamation lawsuit, which she filed alongside her divorce petition from Depp in 2016. Heard was found guilty of defaming Depp in a Washington Post op-ed in which she identified herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse” without mentioning Depp, according to a Virginia jury’s decision in June of this year. Depp received $5 million in punitive penalties in addition to $10 million in compensatory damages; however, the latter figure was eventually lowered to $350,000.
Heard said in a statement that she had given up on the American legal system and chose to settle so she could concentrate on the work that had helped her get over her divorce. Even if her appeal were successful, she said, she would probably have to go through a retrial, something she was not willing to go through. In a statement, Depp’s lawyers Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez said they were happy to put an end to this “painful chapter” for their client and that Heard’s recognition of the end of the legal system’s pursuit of justice was reinforced by the settlement.
One of the most well-known celebrity lawsuits in Hollywood history has now been resolved thanks to the settlement. In Fairfax, Virginia, the case was heard for six weeks before coming to an end in June. Since then, numerous appeals have been filed, and in November of last year, Depp also lost a libel suit against The Sun for a piece that referred to him as a “wife beater.” All pending legal disputes between Depp and Heard have been resolved as a result of the settlement.
