Amber Heard has unexpectedly opened up about the impact the infamous defamation trial between she and ex-husband Johnny Depp had on her.
The heavily publicized trial in 2022 saw Heard facing extreme scrutiny and abuse online.
Ultimately, the court ordered Heard to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages, and $350k in punitive damages, while a countersuit saw Depp ordered to pay $2 million in compensatory damages to Heard.
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Following the trial, the Aquaman actress has relocated to Spain where she is now raising her family.
Heard, 39, has now opened up about the impact that the court case and the public and social media response to it in a new documentary called Silenced, which premiered on Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival.
In an interview with Variety for the film, Heard opened up about the difficult period with a heartbreaking statement. »This is not about me, » she said. « I have lost my ability to speak. I am not here to tell my story. »
‘In fact, I don’t want to use my voice anymore, » she told the film’s director Selina Miles. « That’s the problem. »
She went on to talk about the defamation trial itself, saying: « The outcome of that trial depended on my participation, and I depended on the outcome of that trial. »
Heard added: « What has happened to me is an amplified version of what a lot of women live through. »
Speaking about the documentary in an official description, Heard described how women are vilified and attacked when they speak up.
She said: « Silenced reveals a global pattern: When women speak out, powerful systems move to discredit and punish them. »
The case between Heard and Depp was settled in December 2022, with Heard taking to her Facebook page to share a statement.
Writing at the time, she said: « After a great deal of deliberation I have made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case brought against me by my ex-husband in Virginia. »
« It’s important for me to say that I never chose this. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. »
She added: « The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimized when they come forward. »
Concluding the statement, Heard wrote: « 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.
« I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward. »
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.
Featured Image Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images/JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: News, US News, Celebrity, Johnny Depp, Amber Heard
Johnny Depp has made some rare comments about his time with Amber Heard and the former couple’s subsequent trial that gripped the entire world.
Depp and Heard met in 2009 while filming The Rum Diary, though their relationship is believed to have began late 2011 or early 2012.
They got engaged in January 2014, before tying the knot just over a year later in February 2015.
Their marriage didn’t last long, however, as Depp and Heard separated in 2016 – though that certainly wasn’t the end of the matter.
A long-winded court case came about after Heard claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse in an op-ed piece for the Washington Post in 2018.
The trial played out in the public eye (JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The trial played out in the public eye (JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The Pirates of the Caribbean star wasn’t explicitly named in the piece. However, Depp brought a defamation case against Heard in 2019, alleging that his ex-wife had claimed that he’d ‘perpetrated domestic violence against her’, calling it ‘categorically and demonstrably false’ (via The Independent).
Heard then counter-sued against Depp to $100 million, adding even further media coverage to the trial.
Ultimately, in 2022, a jury found in favour of both Depp’s original suit, awarding Depp $10.35 million in damages, while Heard received $2 million after winning one of her three counter-claims against her ex.
Some three years later, Depp has been speaking to The Sunday Times about his relationship with Heard.
« If you’re a sucker like I am, sometimes you look in a person’s eye and see some sadness, some lonely thing and you feel you can help that person, » the actor said.
« But no good deed goes unpunished, because there are those who, when you try to love and help them, will start to give you an understanding of what that malaise, that perturbance was in their eyes. It manifests itself in other ways.
« And the interesting thing is that it is merely a sliver of my life I have chosen to explore. »
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor even spoke about the trial during his discussion with The Sunday Times.
The 62-year-old said: « Look, it had gone far enough. I knew I’d have to semi-eviscerate myself. Everyone was saying, ‘It’ll go away!’ But I can’t trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f****** globe? No, it won’t.
Johnny Depp has been speaking about his relationship with Amber Heard (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Johnny Depp has been speaking about his relationship with Amber Heard (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
« If I don’t try to represent the truth, it will be like I’ve actually committed the acts I am accused of. And my kids will have to live with it. Their kids. Kids that I’ve met in hospitals.
« So the night before the trial in Virginia, I didn’t feel nervous. If you don’t have to memorize lines, if you’re just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.
Depp said that while he knew none of it ‘was going to be easy’, he didn’t care.
“I’ll fight until the bitter f**king end.’ And if I end up pumping gas? That’s all right. I’ve done that before,” he added.
Depp went on to say that he was a ‘crash test dummy’ for the MeToo movement.
“And I sponged it, took it all in. And so I wanted from the hundreds of people I’ve met in that industry to see who was playing it safe,” he said.
Where Amber Heard is now amid ex Johnny Depp’s return to Hollywood for the first time since their infamous trial
Amber Heard has a very different life after the infamous Johnny Depp defamation trial
Amber Heard took a different path amid Johnny Depp’s return to Hollywood for the first time since the pair’s infamous defamation trial in 2019.
The long-winded court case came about after Heard claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse in an op-ed piece for the Washington Post in 2018.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star wasn’t explicitly named in the piece. However, Depp brought a defamation case against Heard in 2019, alleging that his ex-wife had claimed that he’d ‘perpetrated domestic violence against her’, calling it ‘categorically and demonstrably false’ (via The Independent).
Heard then counter-sued against Depp to $100 million, adding even further media coverage to the trial.
Ultimately, in 2022, a jury found in favour of both Depp’s original suit, awarding Depp $10.35 million in damages while Heard received $2 million after winning one of her three counter-claims against her ex
The actor had previously been seen in a small village in Mallorca living under a pseudonym, with her IMDb page not having listed any recent film credits since Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in 2023.
According to People Magazine, she then moved from Mallorca to Madrid, with a TikTok video of the actor, who is fluent in Spanish, telling reporters that she ‘loves living’ in Spain.
A source close to the outlet reported in November 2022 that Heard ‘is able to just be a mom there. She is focused on raising her daughter. She spends every day with her girl.
« They stroll around, visit parks and enjoy family time. Amber is a great mom. »
The actor is also expecting her second child, with a rep for the 38-year-old telling People in December last year: « It is still quite early in the pregnancy, so you will appreciate that we do not want to go into much detail at this stage.
« Suffice to say that Amber is delighted both for herself and Oonagh Paige. »
Meanwhile, Depp has since returned to Hollywood following the trial in the form of Day Drinker, which tells the story of a bartender who works aboard a private yacht, bumping into a mystery onboard guest alongside a criminal figure.
Depp stars as the mysterious onboard guest in the film, with a first image of the actor in character showing him wearing a navy suit and light blue shirt.
He’d previously returned to the big screen for the film Jeanne du Barry, as well as directing his own film about Italian artist, Amedeo Modigliani, called Modi.
The Edward Scissorhands star ended up visiting Spain to promote the movie, with Heard later revealing her thoughts about his visit.
Featured Image Credit: Jose Ramon Hernando/Europa Press via Getty Images/Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival
