David Livingston/Getty ImagesAmber Heard made a brief appearance at the Unite4:Humanity gala where she was to accept an award Friday but left before she could take the stage due to a "serious emergency," according to her friend iO Tillett Wright.
The actress appeared to be fine while walking the red carpet, posing in a white blouse and black pants. She was later spotted inside the venue—a dining room at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel—with model Cara Delevingne, her sister Whitney Heard, and a few other people and appeared to be distressed and uncomfortable. She later exited through a side door.
A source told E! News Sunday Amber had suffered a medical emergency and went to the hospital to get checked out. She has not commented.
Amber was honored at the event for her humanitarian work with the American Civil Liberties Union. Cara and iO accepted her award on her behalf from presenter Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born Islam critic and former Dutch politician.
"Our dear friend Amber unfortunately suffered a bit of an emergency earlier this evening and she had to go," iO said.
"And I want to also say that I've never seen Amber nervous and I've known her quite intimately for a long time. And she's met pretty much everyone that you could be starstruck by. But Ayaan Hirsi Ali is as close to God as you could get for her, so to know that Ayaan was here and for her to have to leave anyway means that it was a very serious emergency," iO continued. "We both are hoping that she's okay."
iO later praised Amber for her support of the ACLU, saying that the actress "went through one of the most publicized divorces of last decade probably, and all of her 'winnings' from that divorce, as many would've called it, because many pegged her as a gold digger, she donated to the ACLU."
Amber had promised to donate the $7 million earned from her 2016 divorce from Johnny Depp to both the ACLU, with a particular focus to stop violence against women, as well as the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Amber had accused the actor of domestic violence following their split. He denied the allegations. No charges were filed and the two settled the case.
iO and Cara also read from Amber's speech.
"As an activist and human, as someone who is intrinsically allergic to justice, I am humbled and honored to be here tonight among so many dedicated world-changers and real life heroes," iO read. "One of which is my hero, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who has so graciously donated her time and energy to present this award to me. Having you here tonight is a gift for which I will forever ill equip to adequately pay back."
"So she wants to thank everyone here tonight for their dedicated pursuit of justice and concentrated efforts for making this world a better place," Cara said.