Here's How Much Amber Heard Is Really Worth
Actor Amber Heard has continually made waves in Hollywood, whether it be for her various acting roles or her public, drama-filled trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp. Heard's increased public attention over the years has caused a stir for both the media and people everywhere, whether they're fans of hers or fans of Depp.
While the actor has continually been swept into the spotlight due to the negative aspects of her personal life, she has managed to stay afloat financially and even secure a role in the highly anticipated "Aquaman" sequel. Despite her controversial reputation in the public eye, Heard has a net worth of $2.5 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. Her multi-million dollar fortune is in jeopardy, however, as she is currently being sued by Depp for $50 million for her alleged role in tarnishing his career.
From unsuccessful films to expensive shared properties with Depp during her marriage, Heard's net worth is small compared to most celebrities in Tinseltown. Here are the details of how the actor's finances have fluctuated over the years.
Amber Heard's career took off after unsuccessfully modeling
Before the fame, Amber Heard grew up outside of Austin, Texas. The actor had a normal childhood, and her conservative parents worked average jobs. She grew up a blend of both a rough and tough tomboy and a feminine young lady, and among her many interests like fishing and riding horses, she enjoyed modeling. According to the Evening Standard, Heard was active in beauty pageants during her childhood, but it wasn't until she was in her late teenage years that she started taking it seriously.
When she was 17 years old, Heard dropped out of high school to pursue her dreams of modeling full time and moved to New York City, reported The Independent. The actor stayed in the city for less than a year before moving to Los Angeles to launch a new career in acting. It was a slow start, and — after landing small roles in TV shows like "Jack and Bobby" — she landed her first film gig in the 2004 movie, "Friday Night Lights," per her IMDb page.
Throughout the next few years, Heard would continue to build her acting resume and star in leading roles by the late 2000s.
Several of her films were box office flops
While Amber Heard's acting credits include acclaimed films like "Magic Mike XXL" and "The Danish Girl," she has also appeared in several box office flops.
When her career took off in the late 2000s, the actor landed roles in many commercial successes, such as Seth Rogen's teenage girlfriend, Angie, in "Pineapple Express." The film earned over $100 million at the box office, on a budget of approximately $26 million, reported The Numbers. Some of Heard's other films, however, did not perform as well.
By the early 2010s, Heard was working her way up through Hollywood, but had a stretch of poor-performing films at the same time. 2013 was a particularly rough year for her, as she appeared in a handful of box office flops, including "Syrup," "Paranoia," and "Machete Kills." With a gross revenue of only $656, Heard's 2013 film "Syrup" was a commercial failure, though she was praised by some critics for her performance, per Rotten Tomatoes. The same year, her film "Paranoia," in which she acted alongside Gary Oldman and Liam Hemsworth, landed on Variety's list of "Biggest Box Office Disappointments," earning a mere $13.7 million on a $35 million budget. In comparison to the first "Machete" film, which earned $70 million worldwide (via Forbes), "Machete Kills" was yet another Heard movie that flopped at the box office. The film's $17 million profit did not even break even with its $20 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.
She was sued for millions
Amber Heard's financial issues did not stop with her poor-performing movies. In 2016, the actor faced legal troubles when she was sued by producers Chris Hanley and Jordan Gertner for allegedly sabotaging the film "London Fields," in which she had a leading role, according to Variety. The film was already in jeopardy, as the director, Mathew Cullen, brought forth his own lawsuit against the producers for fraud after he alleged the final version of the film was against his vision.
In court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit claimed Heard breached her contract and also conspired to derail the release of the film in 2015. According to the documents, the actor allegedly did not fulfill her contractual obligations to the film, which included, "a refusal to act in provocative scenes contained in the pre-approved script," as well as a refusal to attend the "London Fields" premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The lawsuit had a hefty price tag of $10 million, and Heard countersued Hanley in 2017, alleging that the producer made paramount changes to the film, which included using a body double for Heard's explicit sex and nude scenes, per The Hollywood Reporter. The case was ultimately settled in September 2018, and neither party paid toward the settlement, reported IndieWire. The film released that same year and flopped at the box office, earning $487,420 with a budget of $8 million, per Box Office Mojo.
Her costly divorce with Johnny Depp
Amber Heard met actor Johnny Depp while working on the 2011 film, "The Rum Diary." At the time, both were in romantic relationships: Depp with his longterm partner, Vanessa Paradis, and Heard with photographer Tasya van Ree. In a 2011 interview with Vogue, Heard spoke about her role in the film with Depp, saying, "Working with Johnny was torture. It was better than I ever imagined, which is really saying something." The two started dating in 2012, shortly after Depp and Paradis went their separate ways, reported CNN. Two years later, Depp and Heard were engaged and later married in two separate ceremonies in February 2015, per Us Weekly.
The couple's whirlwind romance was short-lived, and Heard filed for divorce from Depp in May 2016, citing irreconcilable differences as the cause, according to The Guardian. At the time, the actor sought a large sum of money from Depp, which was revealed in their 2022 defamation trial. Depp's business manager, Edward White, testified that Heard gradually demanded an increased value for her divorce payout, saying (via Newsweek), "It went from $4 million to $5 million. Then it went from $5 million to $5.5 million. Then it went to $7 million, and then it was $7 million and she required — demanded — that Mr. Depp also pay $500,000 to her attorneys."
Their divorce was finalized in January 2017, with Depp paying $7 million to Heard in a settlement, per the BBC.
She sought thousands in her divorce
Edward White revealed in court that Amber Heard's monetary settlement demand increased as her and Johnny Depp's divorce played out. The pair ultimately settled on $7 million, but before the divorce was finalized in 2017, Heard was on the hunt for her share of their assets and Depp's fortune. One month after she filed for divorce in May 2016, Heard requested temporary spousal support of $50,000 a month to accommodate her lifestyle. According to financial documents obtained by E! News, Heard's monthly expenses totaled $47,300, which included $10,000 in rent as well as other living expenses.
Her requests did not stop there, however. TMZ reported at the time that on top of the spousal support, the actor requested "use of their Range Rover, possession of their downtown L.A. penthouse, $100,000 for her lawyer's fees and another $25,000 for business people." In their divorce settlement, Heard ultimately received the couple's two dogs, a horse, two cars, and $7 million from Depp, which was set to be paid to her on a monthly basis, per People.
The couple's high-profile divorce was costly, and while Heard appeared to be after the money for her own financial support, the actor pledged that she would use it for a good cause.
Amber Heard was caught lying about donating money
At the time of her divorce from Johnny Depp in 2016, Amber Heard claimed that she would donate all of her $7 million settlement to charities, with half going to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the other to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). ACLU director Anthony Romero said at the time (via the ACLU blog), "We are incredibly grateful that Ms. Heard has so very generously shown her support for the important and necessary advocacy for victims of domestic violence." The only problem? Heard allegedly did not fulfill her promises and has reportedly only paid $1.3 million to the ACLU.
ACLU Chief Operating Officer Terence Dougherty testified in a deposition for the couple's ongoing defamation trial that Heard donated $350,000 after her pledge in 2016, reported Buzzfeed News. Following that donation, the ACLU received a $100,000 donation from Depp and two additional donations, totaling $850,000, from two separate funds, per Insider. In his deposition, Dougherty claimed that he believed one of the donations, totaling $500,000, was from Heard's boyfriend at the time, Elon Musk, through a Vanguard charitable fund, according to Deadline.
Heard has not made a donation since December 2018, and Dougherty testified that he learned of Heard's "financial difficulties" later in 2019, per Vulture. As for her donation to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, she was recognized on the hospital's 2017 donor list, but the exact amount of her donation has not been released (reported People).
Her shared real estate with Johnny Depp
While they were married, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp shared multiple properties together, including a luxurious mansion in Australia and a penthouse in Los Angeles. The couple's Australia home, better known as "Diamond Head," sits on the coastal city of Gold Coast, slightly south of Brisbane. The $40 million property has 10 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a bar, a pool, and a tennis court, and is surrounded by 44 acres of land, according to the Daily Mail. While gorgeous, the home does hold a heavy past, as it was the location of Heard and Depp's infamous fight that resulted in his partially severed finger (reported OK!).
The pair also shared a five-home penthouse in Los Angeles during their relationship. Among the inhabitants of their five homes included Heard and Depp, Depp's friend Isaac Baruch, Heard's sister Whitney Heard, and other friends, The Independent reported. The penthouses are a part of the historic Eastern Columbia Building, and together feature 9 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, and private terraces, to name a few of the amenities, per The Wall Street Journal.
As their divorce was playing out, Heard demanded that Depp allow her to live in three of the five penthouses and for the actor to continue covering living expenses for her, according to The Mirror. Depp secured possession of the penthouses following his divorce from Heard and ultimately put them up for sale in 2017, with a combined $12.78 million price tag.
Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard for $50 million in a defamation lawsuit
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's divorce has been extensively covered by the media since the initial news broke in 2016. When Heard separated from Depp, she claimed the actor had been abusive and filed a temporary restraining order against him in May 2016, per TMZ. This would be one of the many times the two would be connected by Heard's allegations of domestic violence since their separation, which came to a head two years later.
In 2018, Heard wrote an opinion essay for The Washington Post, which detailed her experience with physical and sexual assault throughout her life. In the piece, she wrote, "I became a public figure representing domestic abuse," referencing her relationship and subsequent split from Depp. At the time, the piece was strongly circulated in the media, which was further amplified by the growing #MeToo movement. Though she did not mention Depp by name, the "Edward Scissorhands" actor alleged that Heard's words had irrevocably damaged his career, as he was fired from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise shortly after, reported Time. Depp, who has not appeared on film since 2020, attributes his lack of roles to "an elaborate hoax in order to cripple [his] career," according to The Guardian.
The actor, who typically makes $20 million per film (per Celebrity Net Worth) is suing Heard for $50 million, and she is counter-suing him for $100 million, per E! News.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
She is set to make big money in a huge upcoming film
Amber Heard starred in "Aquaman" in 2018, which soared at the box office and grossed approximately $1.2 billion worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. The film's highly anticipated sequel, "Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom" has now been swept into Heard's highly publicized trial with Johnny Depp, which could affect her status in the film.
In the first installment of the "Aquaman" franchise, Heard allegedly made $5 million, and doubled her money for the sequel, earning $10 million, as reported by StyleCaster. While she is set to make a considerable amount of money for her role in "Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom," supporters and fans of Depp are demanding the actor be eliminated from the sequel. A Change.org petition calling for her removal from the film has reached nearly 4 million signatures as of this writing, and that number continues to rise. During the film's production, producer Peter Safran was firm on pushing against the growing outrage against Heard's role, telling Deadline in 2021, "I don't think we're ever going to react to, honestly, pure fan pressure."
However, that position might have changed. According to TMZ, the "Aquaman" actor allegedly has only 10 minutes of screen time in the film, though other details surrounding the film's plot — including if that short screen time was always planned — have not been revealed at this time.
Her brief romance with billionaire Elon Musk
As if Amber Heard's life could not get more interesting, the actor started dating SpaceX founder and billionaire Elon Musk in April 2017, after their divorces were both finalized. A source told People at the time, "When the time was right and they were both single last year, he started pursuing her romantically." The pair dated for the remainder of the year, before splitting in August 2017. Musk shared the news on Twitter, writing, in part (via Page Six), "Long-distance relationships when both partners have intense work obligations are always difficult, but who knows what the future holds." Heard and Musk reconciled in October of that year, but separated again for good in February 2018.
During their brief romance, Musk allegedly helped the "Aquaman" actor pay part of her pledged $3.5 million donation to the ACLU. In a deposition for the defamation trial, ACLU Chief Operating Officer Terence Dougherty claimed that the $500,000 donation the organization received was from a Vanguard charity fund, which he believed to be connected to Musk, per NPR.
While Musk has not confirmed or denied his involvement in the donations, he did touch on the Depp/Heard drama in 2020 with Page Six, saying, "Regarding this lawsuit, I would recommend that everyone involved bury the hatchet and move on. Life is too short for such extended negativity."