Amber Heard Pays Out $1M Settlement, Johnny Depp Decides To Donate The Whole Sum To Charity
Celebrity trials often draw a big crowd—and few were bigger than when actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife of five years, actress Amber Heard, battled it out in court over accusations of defamation.
Now, it’s becoming clear what the film star, widely known for his portrayal of the quirky and witty Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, is going to do with the money he’s received from his settlement.
A source close to Depp has revealed that he plans to donate the $1 million to five charities of his choosing. Scroll down for the full story.
Actor Johnny Depp has finally chosen 5 charities he plans to donate the defamation lawsuit settlement money to
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Image credits: dior
Depp received $1 million from his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard
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Image credits: amberheard
A source close to Depp revealed to CNN that the actor has plans to give away the settlement money from Heard to five charities, including the Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Marlon Brando’s Tetiaroa Society charity, and the Amazonia Fund Alliance.
The Make-A-Film Foundation helps critically ill children make short films. The Painted Turtle provides camp experiences for children with serious medical conditions. Red Feather provides safe housing to Native Americans.
The Tetiaroa Society works to preserve the ecosystem of the Tetiaroa atoll. And the Amazonia Fund Alliance protects indigenous communities in the Amazonian rainforest. According to TMZ, Depp choosing to donate to The Painted Turtle and the Tetiaroa Society may be tributes to actors Paul Newman and Marlon Brando, whom he respects.
Depp, reportedly, has received the money and plans to split the $1 million equally among the charitable organizations, giving each one $200,000.
CNN reports that a jury in Virginia found both Heard and Depp liable for defamation in June 2022. They later came to a settlement in December, and Heard agreed to pay Depp $1 million in damages. The idea to give all the money away is nothing new.
Those who watched the court proceedings closely might remember that, at the time, Depp’s lawyers had pledged to donate the money to charity. What’s happening now is that promise getting closer to being fulfilled.
“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 acknowledgment of the conclusion of the legal system’s rigorous pursuit for justice,” Depp’s attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez said in a statement in December 2022.
The Depp-Heard trial was a very high-profile case that got a lot of attention in the media and online
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
Image credits: FOX 5 Washington DC
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
After a settlement was reached in December 2022, Depp’s lawyers declared that he would give the money to charity
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The jury had awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in 2022. Meanwhile, Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages. Both celebrities’ lawyers eventually reached a settlement where Heard had to pay Depp $1 million.
Depp had initially sued his ex-wife for $50 million and she countersued for $100 million over an op-ed piece that Heard had written for The Washington Post. In the article, Heard had described herself as a victim of abuse, after a UK court found that an earlier article, which had described Depp as a wife beater, was accurate.
Depp told the BBC that he won’t let the legal battles with Heard define him, asking people not to judge him over it.
“Comeback is a weird thing because… I didn’t go anywhere. “People may have made sure that I was not looked at favorably—powerful press, powerful media, for whatever reasons,” Depp spoke to the BBC at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
According to the actor, before anyone judges him, they should look at their own families. “I suggest before people start pointing fingers and making judgment on others that they have no idea about, I would say, everybody, take one day off of work, stay at home, start your investigation of everyone in your family,” he said.
“Start with your father. Look way back. Dad [has] always been just a wonderful guy, has he? Your uncles, look at your brothers. Look around you first before you start passing judgment on someone that you have no idea what that person has been through, who they are.”
For Bored Panda’s previous coverage of the Depp-Heard trial, check out our posts here and here.
Here’s how some internet users reacted to the news about Depp giving the money to charity
I'm glad that the whole ordeal is over for him and he can move on. A source says he has received the money from her... I hope that's true, for him, and he can complete his donations, which I'm sure he will. He's a very charitable person and I wouldn't expect anything otherwise. I'm sure he's ready to be done with that chapter of his life. I hoped that he would receive the money when I read that she had moved to Spain to raise her daughter and wasn't currently working. This sounds like this best thing that she could be doing as well. I wish them the best moving forward. I can't wait to see him in something new. Edited, France to Spain.
What I don't get is why does Johnny get fired and an attempted cancelation ensues over the allegations against him, while Cardi B has admitted to drugging and robbing men and has suffered no consequences to her career. I'd rather be slapped than drugged and robbed. I'm not against Cardi, just noting the double standard. I also think about Will Smith. Dude slapped someone on tv and still has a career. And there is sexism at work too, since Smith would be done if he had slapped a female comic. . It's all just double standards
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Haters going to hate. The case was about his image, the donation was because it wasn't about the money. The difference between "pledge" and "donate"
The problem is some people see victimhood as currency. It's why Amber started all this in the first place. And it's why a guy like Jussie Smollet buries his career with a fake hate crime. Think about it. He had money and fame. It still wasn't enough he needed even more attention.
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You and I live in a world where people slide into relationships that become abusive; where it becomes hard to make a clean break, persuade cops and lawyers to bother with our problems, where you don’t have to be a saint yourself to still be a victim. Johnny and Amber live in a different world, where precious few people make millions portraying unrealistic situations that we somehow both marvel at the spectacle while relating to on an allegorical level. In the unreal world, lacking its full star power, Amber’s professional ambitions turned toward recreating herself as Hollywood’s Survivor of Abuse paradigm, with all that entails. Because in the 2020’s, every social cause, every goodwill notion, has been leveraged by marketers into “The Brand.” And she had to grab it before someone else did.
I'm glad that the whole ordeal is over for him and he can move on. A source says he has received the money from her... I hope that's true, for him, and he can complete his donations, which I'm sure he will. He's a very charitable person and I wouldn't expect anything otherwise. I'm sure he's ready to be done with that chapter of his life. I hoped that he would receive the money when I read that she had moved to Spain to raise her daughter and wasn't currently working. This sounds like this best thing that she could be doing as well. I wish them the best moving forward. I can't wait to see him in something new. Edited, France to Spain.
What I don't get is why does Johnny get fired and an attempted cancelation ensues over the allegations against him, while Cardi B has admitted to drugging and robbing men and has suffered no consequences to her career. I'd rather be slapped than drugged and robbed. I'm not against Cardi, just noting the double standard. I also think about Will Smith. Dude slapped someone on tv and still has a career. And there is sexism at work too, since Smith would be done if he had slapped a female comic. . It's all just double standards
Load More Replies... Haters going to hate. The case was about his image, the donation was because it wasn't about the money. The difference between "pledge" and "donate"
The problem is some people see victimhood as currency. It's why Amber started all this in the first place. And it's why a guy like Jussie Smollet buries his career with a fake hate crime. Think about it. He had money and fame. It still wasn't enough he needed even more attention.
Load More Replies... You and I live in a world where people slide into relationships that become abusive; where it becomes hard to make a clean break, persuade cops and lawyers to bother with our problems, where you don’t have to be a saint yourself to still be a victim. Johnny and Amber live in a different world, where precious few people make millions portraying unrealistic situations that we somehow both marvel at the spectacle while relating to on an allegorical level. In the unreal world, lacking its full star power, Amber’s professional ambitions turned toward recreating herself as Hollywood’s Survivor of Abuse paradigm, with all that entails. Because in the 2020’s, every social cause, every goodwill notion, has been leveraged by marketers into “The Brand.” And she had to grab it before someone else did.
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