Johnny Depp Will Give The $1 Million Settlement From Amber Heard To Five Charities

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Amber Heard's settlement money will be donated to five separate charities, according to Johnny Depp.

After a bitter five-month legal struggle, Heard has now settled her debt to the Pirates of the Caribbean actor for $1 million (AUD $1.4 million).

In June 2022, Depp's defamation case against his ex-wife was successful when the jury determined that Heard intentionally defamed Depp in her 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed she had experienced both physical and emotional abuse.

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The actor received $5 million (AUD $7.3 million) in punitive damages, which were later reduced to $365,000 (AUD $538 896) and $10 million (AUD $14.1 million) in compensatory damages.

The legal team representing the ex-couple reached a settlement, and Heard's insurance provider finally paid the actor $1 million, putting an end to the case.

The Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society charity, and the Amazonia Fund Alliance are among the five charities Depp reportedly decided to donate the funds to, according to a source who spoke to CNN.

According to the source, Depp chose the Painted Turtle and Tetiaroa Society to pay tribute to its founders, Marlon Brando and Paul Newman, who he considers to be his heroes.

Heard continued by saying that their settlement deal had no "restrictions or gags" involving her voice, thus she was free to speak about the issue without fear of consequences.

She did, however, add that the outcome had made her "lose faith in the US legal system."

Heard insisted that when she told her ex-husband she would be paying him the money in December that it wasn't an admission of guilt but rather an opportunity to finally move on.

"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," she penned to Instagram.

"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."

She continued: "I have made no admission [of guilt]. This is not an act of concession."

Heard continued by saying that their settlement deal had no "restrictions or gags" involving her voice, thus she was free to speak about the issue without fear of consequences.

She did, however, add that the outcome had made her "lose faith in the US legal system."

At the Cannes Film Festival's opening day last month, Depp made a recent public appearance. The international premiere of Heard's film In the Fire will take place at the 69th Taormina Film Festival in Italy on June 24. Heard currently resides in Spain with her daughter.