As a new Netflix documentary seeks to re-examine the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the Aquaman star has been main a life out of the highlight.
Final 12 months, the 37-year-old actor grew to become embroiled in a highly-publicised authorized battle together with her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, who sued Heard for $50m (£38.2m) for implying he abused her in a 2018 Washington Publish op-ed. After a six-week trial, the jury decided Heard defamed Depp on all three counts and awarded him $10m (£8.2m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4.1m) in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in compensatory damages.
Heard then filed a discover of enchantment one month after the preliminary verdict, together with her lawyer citing “errors” made by the court docket. Nonetheless, she determined to withdraw the enchantment in December, calling the resolution to settle with Depp “very troublesome”, and one thing that had required “a substantial amount of deliberation”.
Since then, the Rum Diary star has reportedly “give up Hollywood” in the hunt for extra privateness. After the bombshell defamation trial revealed particulars about the actor’s private life – in addition to a web-based frenzy that was largely skewed in opposition to Heard – she has since offered her residence in California and relocated to Madrid, Spain.
In July 2022, Heard reportedly offered her six-acre residence in Yucca Valley, California, for $1.05m, based on the New York Post. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom desert residence was bought off-market, as TMZ reported the new proprietor was in contact with Heard’s “folks” throughout the transaction.
Heard traded her desert retreat for a rental residence on the island of Mallorca in Spain, the place she briefly lived earlier than completely shifting to the Spanish capital of Madrid. The Texas native was noticed a number of instances in Spain, reminiscent of buying at a neighborhood ebook truthful, earlier than she seemingly confirmed her new residence whereas chatting with Spanish reporters final June.
“Amber, how is your new life right here in Madrid?” the cameraman requested Heard in the clip. She replied in Spanish: “I like Spain, a lot.” When requested whether or not she plans on staying in Madrid, Heard responded: “Sure, I hope so. Sure, sure, I like dwelling right here.”
Again in April, a supply informed People that Heard “couldn’t wait to depart the US together with her daughter” after the defamation trial reached a verdict in June 2022. “She has been dwelling in Spain, the place she will get extra privateness. The trial was past worrying for her, and she or he simply needed to begin recent out of the nation.”
In the meantime, one other supply beforehand informed the Daily Mail that Heard is “bilingual in Spanish” and comfortable to be “elevating her daughter away from all the noise”.
The social media obsession surrounding the defamation trial, which sparked hashtags together with #amberheardisaliar and #justiceforjohnnydepp, reportedly precipitated Heard to really feel “like a pariah” after it had reached an end result in favour of her ex-husband. A supply informed People at the time: “She simply needed to get out of the US. It felt like an excessive amount of chaos.”
Following the notorious authorized battle, sources claimed that Heard can be prepared to return to work “when the time is proper for the proper undertaking”. She is set to reprise her function as Queen Mera in Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom, the sequel to DC Comics’ 2018 movie Aquaman, which will likely be launched in December 2023.
The actor additionally made her post-defamation trial return together with her new movie, In the Hearth, which premiered at the Taormina Movie Competition on 25 June. In her first Instagram put up since the Depp v Heard trial, she celebrated the premiere of the thriller movie by posting a smiling picture of herself from the Italian movie pageant. “Thanks for such an extremely heat reception at the Taormina Movie pageant for my newest film In the Hearth. It was an unforgettable weekend,” she captioned the put up.
In a separate post, Heard shared a fowl’s-eye picture of the followers who have been ready to greet her outdoors the premiere. “What a reception,” she wrote. “Thanks to all of my followers and supporters. I’m so touched.”
Chatting with Deadline about the In the Hearth premiere, Heard made a refined reference to the challenges and pressures she confronted on account of the trial. “That’s a giant factor I needed to study, that I’m not accountable for tales different folks create round me. That’s one thing that in all probability I’ll respect as a blessing additional down the line,” she informed the outlet final June.
“Proper now, I simply type of wish to not have, you recognize, stones thrown at me a lot. So let’s get the elephant out of the room then, and simply let me say that. I’m an actress. I’m right here to help a film. And that’s not one thing I might be sued for.”
Heard went on to debate her pleasure in her profession, having labored professionally her “entire grownup life, since [she] was 16”. Because of this, she stated that her success in the leisure business must be sufficient to form her popularity, slightly than her private life. “I feel I’ve earned respect for that to be its personal factor,” Heard defined. “That’s substantial sufficient. What I’ve been by way of, what I’ve lived by way of, doesn’t make my profession in any respect. And it’s actually not gonna cease my profession.
“I simply wish to make motion pictures and be appreciated as an actress. I don’t wish to must be crucified to be appreciated as one.”
