Amber Heard announces settlement in defamation case against Johnny Depp

HOUSTON, United States

Actress Amber Heard announced on Monday that she settled her defamation suit against her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

"It's important for me to say that I never chose this. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as a I knew it was destroyed," Heard wrote in a lengthy Instagram post. "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."

Depp, 59, sued Heard, 36, for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post in which she described herself as a domestic abuse survivor, even though she did not mention Depp by name.

In a court verdict in the US state of Virginia, Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.

In her statement, Heard said the settlement was an opportunity to "emancipate" herself "from something I attempted to leave over six years ago."

"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 continued.

Heard did not announce the terms of the settlement on her Instagram post.

"I will not be threatened, disheartened or dissuaded by what happened from speaking the truth. No one can and no one will take that from me. My voice forever remains the most valuable asset I have," said Heard.

Depp's representatives have not yet issued a response to Heard's settlement announcement.​​​​​​​