Actress Amber Heard has finally settled her defamation action against ex-husband Johnny Depp by paying the Pirates of the Caribbean star $1 million. He says he will donate it all to charity.
The pair’s lawyers created the deal which saw Heard’s insurance company pay Depp the sum to close the case heard last year built on allegations of domestic violence, as Breitbart News reported.
Heard, 36, wrote at the time on Instagram she had made the “very difficult” choice to settle, qualifying it by noting the move was “not an act of concession.”
Saying she had “lost faith in the American legal system,” Heard made clear she would not appeal after their U.S. trial concluded.
Now a full six months on from one of the most bitter Hollywood divorces in modern times, TMZ reports Depp has finally received payment in full.
The outlet reports the funds will be divided evenly, $200,000 each, across Depp’s five favorite non-profits.
The charities range from organizations helping sick children with life-threatening illnesses and providing housing for deprived communities.
The five non-profits Depp will reportedly choose to donate the money to are: Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society and the Amazonia Fund Alliance.
The pair have been locked in a bitter – and very public – legal battle on both sides of the Atlantic over the last six years after Heard alleged she was a victim of domestic violence during their short marriage.
U.S. actress Amber Heard testifies at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 5, 2022. (JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A courtroom in London initially found in her favour, but a second case in Fairfax, Virginia, last year came out on Depp’s side.
That judgement decided the $1 million payment which has now been made.
As she and Depp, 59, faced off in court jurors heard intimate and sometimes salacious details of their relationship, as Breitbart News reported.