Johnny Depp Has Big Plans For Amber Heard Settlement Money
According to a report from Variety, long-feuding Hollywood stars Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have finally settled their legal dispute by reaching an agreement outside of the courtroom. Heard has agreed to pay Depp $1 million, a significant sight less than the $8.35 million that jurors previously decided she owed Depp after their defamation trial in Virginia.
In a statement, Heard maintained that her choice to accept the settlement was "not an act of concession," but rather, a need to spare herself further monetary, emotional, and psychological costs and put an end to the saga. "For too many years I have been caged in an arduous and expensive legal process, which has shown itself unable to protect me and my right to free speech," Heard wrote.
Heard's $1 million payout to Depp will reportedly be covered by her insurance company — and luckily so for the actor. In June, sources told The New York Post that Heard was strapped for cash after her expensive legal battle, and the "Aquaman" star was leaning on her homeowner's insurance to pay for her lawyers. However, New York Marine and General Insurance filed a complaint after the trial that it shouldn't have to cover Heard — given that the jury deemed she committed willful misconduct, per the Daily Mail. (Heard countersued New York Marine in November.)
As for Depp, he too has broken his silence on their settlement agreement... and his plans for the $1 million coming his way.
Johnny Depp will donate Amber Heard's payment to charity
In a statement released to Deadline, Johnny Depp's lawyers, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, announced that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor plans to donate the $1 million settlement from Heard to charities. Notably, those who followed the six-week defamation trial will likely recognize the way that the exact verbiage used in the statement takes a clear swipe at Amber Heard.
The statement reads, "Mr. Depp is pledging and will (actually) donate [the money] to charities." As many might remember, Vasquez questioned Heard's interchangeable usage of "pledge" and "donate" during the Virginia trial, asking Heard during cross-examination, "So as of today, you have not donated — paid — $7 million of your divorce settlement to charity, right?," per Newsweek. Heard admitted, "I have not been able to fulfill those obligations yet."
Depp's statement also stressed that the actor is "pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter." According to Chew and Vasquez, the entire legal process has been in pursuit of the truth, not money, for him. They, however, emphasized that the settlement itself upholds — and shows Heard's acknowledgment of — the jury's unanimous decision in Depp's favor.