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Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard have finally settled their defamation lawsuits, ending Hollywood’s most bitter divorce in modern times.
Lawyers for the couple have reached an agreement in which Heard’s insurance company will pay Depp $1 million.
But, in a major victory for the actress, there are no restrictions on what she can speak about in the case and she has not pleaded guilty, as reported by the MailOnline.
The couple have been embroiled in a bitter legal battle for the past six years after Heard alleged she was a victim of domestic violence during their 15-month marriage.
A court in London ruled in his favor, but a second case in Fairfax, Virginia, this year came out on Depp’s side. The 36-year-old actress was ordered to pay $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million (later reduced to $365,000) in punitive damages after the six-week case, while Depp, 59, he was told to give him 2 million dollars.
The couple’s legal teams have been locked in discussions to avoid a third trial after Heard filed an appeal.
A deal was finally reached over the weekend with both parties agreeing to release a statement today at 2pm GMT (9am ET).
“Amber now looks forward to moving on with her life as she planned six years ago,” a source close to the actress told MailOnline. She “She wants to put this unfortunate episode behind her and dedicate herself to what she loves in life: her career, her family and her causes.”
In the explosive statement posted to Instagram by Heard, she said that “my life as I knew it was destroyed” by the court cases.
She added that she had lost all faith in getting justice in the American legal system, comparing it to the treatment she received in UK courts, and claimed that her ex-husband had won in the Virginia courtroom because of a vote “for the popularity and power over reason and due process”.
Having already sold his Los Angeles home to help finance the legal action, he didn’t want to risk losing even more. This agreement means that his insurance company will take over the payment to Depp.
The full statement reads: “After much deliberation, I have made a very difficult decision to resolve 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 stood up for my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The smear I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways women are revictimized when they come forward. Now I finally have the opportunity to emancipate myself from something that I tried to leave more than six years ago and on terms that I can accept. I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or clamps regarding my voice moving forward. I make this decision after losing faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder. When I went before a judge in the UK, I was vindicated by a strong, fair and fair system, where I was protected from having to give the worst moments of my testimony in front of the world’s media, and where the court found that I was subjected to domestic and sexual violence. In the United States, however, I exhausted almost all my resources before and during a trial in which I was subjected to a courtroom in which abundant direct evidence corroborating my testimony was excluded and in which popularity and power mattered more than reason. and due process. Meanwhile, I’ve been exposed to a kind of humiliation that I just can’t live again. Even if my US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a new trial where a new jury would have to consider the evidence again. I just can’t go through it a third time. Time is precious and I want to spend my time productively and with purpose. For too many years I have been locked in an arduous and costly legal process, which has proven incapable of protecting me and my right to free expression. I cannot afford to risk an impossible bill, one that is not just financial, but also psychological, physical, and emotional. Women shouldn’t have to face abuse or bankruptcy for speaking their truth, but unfortunately it’s not uncommon. ‘In settling this case, I am also choosing the freedom to dedicate my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce; work that exists in settings where I feel seen, heard and believed, and where I know I can make a difference. I will not be threatened, discouraged, or deterred by what happened from telling the truth. No one can and no one will take that away from me. My voice remains forever the most valuable asset I have. I would like to thank my outstanding appellate and original trial teams for their tireless hard work. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and focus my attention on the growing support I have felt and seen publicly in the months since the trial, and the efforts that have been made to show solidarity with my story. Any survivor knows that being able to tell her story often feels like the only relief, and I can’t find enough words to tell you how hopeful her belief in me inspires, not just for me, but for all of you. Thank you. I see them soon.”
Depp is expected to issue his own statement in the coming hours to also end the legal battle against his ex-wife.
abc