Amber Heard settles defamation case with Johnny Depp | Ents & Arts News

Amber Heard has settled her multimillion-dollar defamation case in the United States with ex-husband Johnny Depp, saying she has “lost faith in the American legal system”.

She said she would not proceed with a scheduled appeal after their trial in the United States.

In an Instagram post, the actress said she made her decision after “a lot of deliberation” and never “choose this.”

The message read: “I stood up for my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed.

“The vilification I’ve faced on social media is an amplified version of how women are re-victimized when they come forward.

“Now I finally have the opportunity to break free from something I tried to leave over six years ago and on terms I can accept.”

The actress added that this message is not an admission of action, and “not an act of concession”.

The former Aquaman star compared her treatment in courtrooms in the UK and US, saying in the UK she was ‘justified by a strong, impartial and fair system’ and protected to have to give “the worst moments of my testimony in front of the media of the world”.

While in the United States, she said she was “subjected to a courtroom in which abundant and direct evidence supporting my testimony was excluded and in which popularity and power mattered more than reason and due process”.

Heard said that even if her appeal is successful, the “best outcome” would be a new trial with a new jury, which she said she “just can’t get through” for the third time.

“In settling this matter, I’m also choosing the freedom to devote my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce; work that exists in areas where I feel seen, heard and believed, and in which I know that I can make changes,” she continued.

“I will not be threatened, discouraged or deterred by what happened from speaking the truth. No one can and no one will take this from me. My voice will forever remain my most valuable asset.”