Amber Heard, following her loss in a defamation suit with her former husband Johnny Depp, had to pay him $1 million after deciding that she would close the case and pay a settlement rather than deal with an appeal. Her insurance company paid out the sum to Depp after she and her attorneys made the settlement decision. Depp has announced, via his attorneys, that he will donate the settlement to charity.
Such is what Depp’s attorneys, Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew, told TMZ, saying that Depp had sued Heard not to win any money but rather to restore his reputation by bringing the truth about this relationship with Heard and the falseness of her abuse claims to light.
Beginning, they said. “We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process his intent to bring the truth to light.” Continuing, they then added, “This was never about the money. The jury’s unanimous decision and the judgment in his favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place, and the payment of $1M — which Mr. Depp is pledging and will donate to charities — reinforces Ms. Heard’s acknowledgment of the conclusion of the legal system’s rigorous pursuit for justice.”
TMZ, in a separate article on Depp’s decision, said that the money would be split five ways between five charities, so $200k each. Those charities are the Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society, and the Amazonia Fund Alliance.
The Make-A-Film Foundation is like the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but for kids to meet actors and directors. The Painted Turtle and Tetiaroa were chosen because Paul Newman and Marlon Brando are Depp’s acting heroes and were heavily involved in creating those charities, so he wanted to continue their philanthropic legacies and pay a homage to them by donating to their foundations. The remaining two charities, Red Feather and Amazonia, are charities that help Native American communities. TMZ did not elaborate on why Depp chose to donate to them.
Heard, in a lengthy statement on why she chose to settle with Depp rather than fight it out in court said, in part, “After a great deal of deliberation I have made a very difficult decision to settle 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 defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimized when they come forward. Now I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to. I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession.There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.”
She added, “I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder.”
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