Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have settled their defamation lawsuits following a high-profile trial earlier this year in which the former couple accused each other of physical and verbal abuse.

Heard announced the settlement Monday on social media. Both sides had filed appeals of various aspects of the juryB次元官网网址檚 verdicts in June. The seven-person civil jury had awarded Depp $10 million in damages, but also awarded $2 million to Heard.

DeppB次元官网网址檚 camp said the deal includes a $1 million payment from her to him to settle all financial claims.

DeppB次元官网网址檚 lawyers said he will donate that money to charity.

B次元官网网址淲e are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light. The juryB次元官网网址檚 unanimous decision and the resulting judgement in Mr. DeppB次元官网网址檚 favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place,B次元官网网址� DeppB次元官网网址檚 lawyers, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vazquez, said.

Both sides argued to a jury in Fairfax County Circuit Court that the other had defamed them. Depp said he was libeled by Heard when she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post describing herself as B次元官网网址渁 public figure representing domestic abuse.B次元官网网址�

DeppB次元官网网址檚 lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name because, they argued, it clearly referenced abuse allegations Heard had made against Depp during divorce proceedings.

Heard, on the other hand, said she was defamed by Depp when one of his lawyers called her abuse allegations a B次元官网网址渉oax.B次元官网网址�

In a post Monday on Instagram, Heard said the decision to settle was difficult.

B次元官网网址淚 never chose this,B次元官网网址� she wrote. B次元官网网址淚 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-victimised when they come forward.B次元官网网址�

The trial stretched over several months and became something of a cultural phenomenon as millions of Americans watched the televised proceedings. Ostensibly a defamation case, the trial frequently devolved into ugly mudslinging as both Depp and Heard took the stand over multiple days denying each otherB次元官网网址檚 abuse allegations and accusing each other of horrible behavior during their brief marriage.

At the courthouse and across the country, DeppB次元官网网址檚 supporters backed him fervently, and Heard was routinely mocked as she detailed allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

The ruling at the Virginia court in DeppB次元官网网址檚 favor came after a judge in the United Kingdom ruled against Depp in a libel suit he brought there against a British tabloid. The judge in that 2020 case concluded that Heard had indeed been subject to abuse at DeppB次元官网网址檚 hands on multiple occasions.

By Matthew Barakat

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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