Actress Amber Heard has paid the million dollars she owed to her ex-husband, also actor Johnny Depp, after losing the media defamation trial held in June last year in a Fairfax County court (Virginia, USA), The US media reported this Tuesday.
The legal battle, which lasted for six weeks, concluded with a sentence of 10 million dollars against Heard for damaging the reputation of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, by referring to himself herself as a victim of domestic abuse in a column published in The Washington Post. For that text, Depp sued her for defamation and requested compensation of 50 million dollars in damages.
However, after the sentence and a series of appeals by the protagonist of “Aquaman”, Depp agreed to settle the case last December limiting the compensation to one million dollars, an amount that has now been paid by the insurance company of the actress.
Charitable Contributions
The amount will be divided equally between the charities Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society, and Amazonia Fund Alliance, according to the US press.
Likewise, the Fairfax court (Virginia, USA) contemplated that Depp should compensate his ex-wife with 2 million dollars, who filed a countersuit, also for defamation. The actor’s current legal team is still litigating to avoid this payment.
Relationship of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp
Heard and Depp fell in love on the set of the film “The Rum Diaries” in 2009 and formalized their relationship seven years later with a marriage that lasted no more than fifteen months. Depp’s alleged violent behavior after consuming alcohol and drugs was publicly denounced repeatedly by his ex-partner until the controversial opinion article triggered a conflict in court that, although it partially agreed with the actor, seriously damaged the public image of Depp.
Both are trying to move on from the trial. Heard, who moved to Madrid with her young daughter in May, is trying to relaunch her artistic career and will appear on the red carpet at the 69th edition of the Taormina Film Festival (Sicily, Italy) on June 24 for the world premiere of his new film, “In the Fire”. Depp was present in May during the opening day of the 76th Cannes Film Festival (France) to promote “Jeanne du Barry”, the film that represents his return to the great screen.