It’s no secret that the infamous Depp v. Heard defamation trial saw Johnny Depp emerge victorious and his ex-wife on the losing side. After six exasperating weeks of legal chaos, the jury declared Amber Heard guilty of defaming Depp and things slowly started to fall in line for the latter. But those six weeks might as well have cost the actress her entire career in Hollywood.
Amber Heard
The colossally publicized trial that took place in Virginia in April 2022 rendered Heard financially unstable, to say the least. As she lost the case to the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, she was legally obliged to pay him millions in damages. However, Heard didn’t have access to that kind of money then, and almost a year down the line, she still doesn’t.
Amber Heard’s Bleak Financial Situation Might Affect Her Career
Amber Heard and her lawyers for the defamation trial
On June 1, 2022, the jury ruled in Depp’s favor, awarding him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million more in punitive damages from the Aquaman actress. While the punitive damages were reduced, courtesy of Virginia’s state law, Heard still had to pay Johnny Depp a gigantic sum totaling $10.35 million.
Post the painful court drama, Heard was rumored to have been selling some of her houses in the U.S. since she had no other way of gathering the money she legally owed her ex-husband. And as if her monetary resources weren’t scarce enough already, Amber Heard then came face-to-face with another ordeal wherein an insurance company was suing her, a case which is currently still ongoing. On top of that, the Never Back Down star also had to pay the legal team that went above and beyond to represent her in the defamation lawsuit.
With her owing such enormous sums of money to more than one entity and not holding any substantial financial resources, Heard’s Hollywood career seems, more or less, to be in jeopardy. Even after starring in a multitude of movies, DC’s Aquaman films are amongst the very few projects of Heard that have actually made her good figures. Heard, 36, further faced obstacles with regard to Aquaman 2‘s filming as her tarnished reputation post-trial made it difficult for her to come back to work.
Heard as Mera in Aquaman (2018)
For a long while, media outlets reported that the Pineapple Express actress wouldn’t be returning to the sequel alongside Jason Momoa as one of the many extreme consequences of her legal loss. However, those rumors were later said to have been nothing but a hoax. Even so, Heard’s appearance in Aquaman and the lost kingdom could very well be her last big studio project given how her monetary scenario doesn’t seem to be in the best shape right now.
Could the Settlement be A Silver Lining for Amber Heard?
On December 19, 2022, Heard decided to settle her long-drawn legal fight against the Dark Shadows actor by paying him $1 million. While Depp was awarded $10.35 million in court, he had to pay $2 million to the Drive Angry actress due to a previous transgression on his lawyer’s part. But with this new settlement, Heard will be paying $7.35 million less than what she was originally slated to pay Depp after their controversial Virginia trial.
While the London Fields actress announced her decision on social media with a heavy heart, claiming how she “never chose this,” it might just be the best-case scenario for her. In the statement that she issued on Instagram about the same, Heard further mentioned how she can’t “afford to risk an impossible bill” arising from “an expensive legal process” when at the end of the day the law is unable to protect her. Meanwhile, Depp along with his lawyers is more than happy to go ahead with the settlement and finally “close the door on this painful chapter” of his life.
Johnny Depp in the frame, Amber Heard in the distance
Considering the current situation, Heard’s financial woes seem to have reduced drastically. Most of what she owed was to Depp which after their settlement went from an impossibly monumental sum to a decently payable amount for Heard. So, maybe this could mark the beginning of a new chapter for The Joneses actress and her career in the film industry might get saved after all.
