December 19, (THEWILL) – Amber Heard revealed that she and her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, have settled their high-profile defamation case.
She took to Instagram to pen a lengthy note about her decision to settle the lawsuit once and for all.
“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.”
A jury had sided with Depp in the lengthy defamation trial between him and Heard in June. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages. Virginia law states that punitive damages are capped at $350,000, so Depp will receive a total of $10.35 million.
Heard filed a notice of appeal on July 21, with Depp filing a notice of appeal the following day.
In her Monday note, Heard touched on the impact of the media in the defamation case with her former spouse: “The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimised when they come forward.
“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,” she wrote.
