Actress Amber Heard announced Monday that she has reached an agreement to end the appeals proceedings in the defamation lawsuit that opposes her in the United States against Johnny Depp, pledging to pay her ex-husband one million dollars.
“After long reflection, I made the difficult decision to reach an agreement,” the star wrote on Instagram, without specifying the financial terms.
The 36-year-old actress had initially appealed the verdict handed down in June that ordered her to pay $10 million to the star of Pirates of the Caribbeanwho in turn had to pay 2 million to Amber Heard.
“I made this decision after losing faith in the American justice system, where my public testimony served as entertainment and gave social media food for thought,” added the actress.
“Painful Chapter for Mr. Depp”
The lawyers for Johnny Depp, 59, welcomed the conclusion of this agreement on Monday. “We are pleased to officially close this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who has made it clear throughout this process that his priority is exposing the truth,” said attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez.
“The unanimous decision of the jury and the resulting sentence in favor of Mr. Depp against Mrs. Heard remain in full force,” they recalled.
“The payment of one million dollars – which Mr. Depp agrees to donate to charity, which in fact he will – demonstrates that Ms. Heard recognizes the conclusions” of justice, they added.
six weeks of discussions
The legal battle between the ex-spouses arises from a column published by the Washington Post in 2018, in which Amber Heard described herself as “a public figure representing domestic violence”, without naming her ex-husband.
Claiming that the text had destroyed his reputation and career, Johnny Depp, 59, sued his ex-wife for defamation to obtain $50 million in damages. Amber Heard had counterattacked and called for the double.
At the end of six weeks of debate, jurors in Fairfax court in suburban Washington had concluded that the ex-spouses had defamed each other, but had estimated that the damage suffered by Johnny Depp was greater.
The trial, highly publicized and broadcast live on television, was followed by millions of viewers around the world and sparked an explosion of hostile messages towards the actress on social media.
Source: BFM TV
