“My life as I knew it was destroyed”: Amber Heard Shames American Legal System Which Allegedly Valued Johnny Depp’s Popularity and Power More Than Her Evidence
Amber Heard has reached her limit. She and Johnny Depp separated back in 2016 but have continuously been embroiled in altercation to date. The Depp v Heard defamation case went on in a Virginia court for a good six weeks and was wildly publicized. Several clips from the trial went a long way in vilifying Heard and the case was as much debated on social media as in the courtroom.
The jury took Depp’s favor and awarded him $10.35 million as compensatory damages. And Heard was left reportedly bankrupt with a negative net worth, and no particular work prospects, except previously signed projects to sail her through the hard times and debt. She appealed the Virginia verdict and was close to getting a retrial but she has now given that up to move on with her life.
Amber Heard has settled the defamation case against Johnny Depp
Amber Heard appealed the June verdict on grounds that the jury’s decision was biased due to several factors. And due to the verdict not being fair to her, she deserves another go.
But now, the Aquaman star has given up the pursuit of justice as confessed by her in latest her Instagram post. Heard took to Instagram to share with the fans her decision to settle the defamation case.
She expressed her anger and disappointment about the whole situation claiming that she never chose to experience all that she was put through. She wrote,
“I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed.”
The Never Back Down actress further equated her situation to that of female victims worldwide,
“The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimised when they come forward.”
This is not dissimilar to her former claims suggesting that her vilification will make it hard for female survivors of domestic abuse to come forward with their narratives.
Amber Heard is unapologetic as always
The Drive Angry actress further added that she will now leave that part of her life behind but not because she is in the wrong. She stoutly refused to admit any of the allegations that she has been branded with over the past months and years.
“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.”
This is again a reiteration of the 36-year-old’s statement after the Virginia trial verdict. She claimed to stand by her experiences of abuse and held her ground no matter what the verdict.
The UK libel trial vs the US trial
Heard also called out the American legal system which, according to her, was extremely unfair in her case. She wrote,
“I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder.”
She further wrote about the UK libel trial which Johnny Depp had lost. Depp had sued The Sun for naming him a ‘wife-beater’ in their article in 2020. The court ruled that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor had, in fact, assaulted his ex-wife.
“When I stood before a judge in the UK, I was vindicated by a robust, impartial 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.”
The 3 Days To Kill actress then contrasted the UK trial to the US one, saying,
“In the U.S., however, I exhausted almost all my resources in advance of and during a trial in which I was subject to a courtroom in which abundant, direct evidence that corroborated my testimony was excluded and in which popularity and power mattered more than reason and due process. In the interim I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot re-live. Even if my U.S. appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a re-trial where a new jury would have to consider the evidence age. I simply cannot go through that for a third time.”
Heard has always been of the opinion that the Edward Scissorhands actor’s fame and power are what won him the trial and not sheer truth and facts. And no matter what she attempts, she cannot combat his superstardom. And that is why she is choosing to settle the defamation case instead of pursuing it further at her own financial, psychological, and emotional expense.
Source: Instagram
