Johnny Depp was trying to make a point!
As Perezcious readers know, the Pirates of the Caribbean alum agreed to a settlement with Amber Heard on Monday following a contentious defamation lawsuit. Per the deal, his ex-wife only had to fork over $1 million as opposed to the over $8 million he was owed by the court — but apparently, this was done for a very specific reason!
According to a new source close to the actor via People, his decision to accept way less money was done to prove he only ever “wanted the truth” to come out in his court case — he wasn’t in it for the money!
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The source went on to suggest that “part of the point of [Amber] appealing [the verdict] was both the financial reasons [and] to ensure there wasn’t a judgment in place against her — that has significant ramifications.” She won’t get exactly what she wanted by taking the deal, though, the insider added:
“This judgment is never going away. He has always said he wasn’t looking to destroy her. He said it wasn’t about money, and it’s not! He just wanted the truth.”
Well, whether or not he intended to “destroy her,” he definitely did — which is ironic since that’s why Johnny was fighting in the first place. The pair’s legal battle began when Depp sued the Aquaman star for things she said in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about being the victim of domestic violence. Since the couple had just divorced the year prior, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory star claimed it had affected his reputation despite the fact he wasn’t named in the piece. A Virginia jury largely sided with him, awarding him $10.35 million in damages. He was also required to pay Amber $2 million for things his attorney said during the battle. Both sides filed an appeal last month, but they’ve since changed course and decided to put the legal fight behind them.
Announcing her “very difficult decision” to settle on Instagram on Monday, the 36-year-old actress shared:
“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.”
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She made sure to put the media, haters, and the US legal system on blast for allowing her to become the center of such severe cyberbullying while she was trying to speak up for herself, she added:
“In the US, 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 US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a re-trial where a new jury would have to consider the evidence again. I simply cannot go through that for a third time.”
Understandable! Especially since in Johnny’s camp’s statement about the settlement, they still used every opportunity they could to throw some shade. Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez told People:
“We 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.”
Referencing the money, they noted:
“The jury’s unanimous decision and the resulting judgment in Mr. Depp’s favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place. The payment of $1 million — which Mr. Depp is pledging and will (actually) donate to charities — reinforces Ms. Heard’s acknowledgement of the conclusion of the legal system’s rigorous pursuit for justice.”
Damn!!
Pretty brutal! Taking every shot they can get up until the very end! Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Think Johnny was playing nice by agreeing to such a small settlement, all things considered? Sound OFF (below)!
[Image via NBC News/YouTube & MEGA/WENN]
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