Amber Heard stated in an Instagram post on Monday that her defamation action against her ex-husband Johnny Depp had been resolved.

The choice to settle with Depp, 59, was “extremely painful,” said Heard, 36, adding that it came after “a tremendous deal of contemplation.”

I must emphasise that I never selected this. My life as I knew it was ruined because I stood up for the truth. When women come out, they are re-victimized in ways that are compounded by the criticism they get online, Heard wrote.

Heard described the settlement in her statement as a last resort and a “chance to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on multiple occasions.”

Contrary to what she claimed in her statement, a source close to Depp stated the judgement against Heard can still be used against her if she ever makes another false or defamatory claim.

According to the source, Depp will donate the money received from Heard to a number of charity that will be announced later.

The agreement was reached months after a televised trial that lasted for several weeks and at the end of which jurors found that Heard had slandered Depp by penning an opinion piece for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she claimed she had become a “public figure symbolising domestic abuse.” Despite the fact that Depp was never specifically referenced in the article, according to his lawyers, it made reference to accusations she levelled against him during their 2016 divorce.

She testified graphically during the trial about a sexual assault she claimed to have had as well as claims of instances of physical abuse. All allegations of abuse were refuted by Depp.

During the trial, social media posts largely seemed to support Depp. With so many internet memes and viral videos demeaning Heard, finding support for her was more difficult. a few internet artists

The jury’s verdict served as a legal victory for Depp, who had previously lost a libel action in the UK over allegations that he had physically mistreated Heard. Justice Andrew Nicol rejected Depp’s appeal in 2020, finding that a British tabloid had provided compelling evidence that Depp had assaulted Heard on at least 12 of the 14 instances in question.

The jury’s verdict served as a legal victory for Depp, who had previously lost a libel action in the UK over allegations that he had physically mistreated Heard. Justice Andrew Nicol rejected Depp’s appeal in 2020, finding that a British tabloid had provided compelling evidence that Depp had assaulted Heard on at least 12 of the 14 instances in question.

Heard wrote in her statement that she has observed differences between the court cases in the U.S. and the U.K “My unprotected evidence was used as entertainment and social media fodder, and I lost faith in the American legal system.

Heard said that the British legal system “victoriously” upheld her in that country, where she “was shielded from having to deliver the worst moments of my testimony in front of the world’s media, and where the court found that I was subjected to domestic and sexual assault.”

But in the United States, “I used practically all of my resources to prepare for and during a trial when I was exposed to copious amounts of direct evidence that supported my claims.