Actor Johnny Depp donates all of RM4.62m defamation settlement from ex-wife Amber Heard to charity
KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 — Actor Johnny Depp has chosen the charities he plans to donate the US$1 million (RM4.62 million) settlement owed by Amber Heard stemming from their highly publicised defamation trial.
The five different charities are the Make a Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Teitaroa Society and Amazonia Fund Alliance.
These organisations that benefit sick children, aid indigenous communities and help conserve island sustainability will each receive US$200,000 (RM924,000) from the Pirates of the Caribbean star, reported CNN.
The Virginia jury originally awarded Depp US$10 million in compensatory damages and US$5 million dollars in punitive damages in June 2022.
Meanwhile, Heard was awarded US$2 million in compensatory damages and no money for punitive damages.
Ultimately, the damages that Heard owed to Depp were reduced to US$1 million in December, when the former couple came to a settlement agreement.
Heard posted a statement on her verified Instagram page at the time announcing that they’d reached a settlement, writing that she had “made no admission” and that the settlement is “not an act of concession.”
“I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder,” she said in her post.
Depp’s lawyers, Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew, also released a statement which said: “We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout the process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light.”
After winning the lawsuit, Depp made his acting comeback at the Cannes Film Festival with Jeanne Du Barry while Heard moved to Spain with her daughter.
