Johnny Depp already has plans for some of the settlement money he'll receive from his ex, Amber Heard.
Shortly after the Aquaman actress announced on Dec. 19 that she decided to settle the defamation case brought forth by her ex, the actor's attorneys have responded to the development.
"We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light," Depp's attorneys, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, told E! News in a Dec. 19 statement. "The jury's unanimous decision and the resulting judgement in Mr. Depp's favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place."
They added, "The payment of $1M—which Mr. Depp is pledging and will actually donate to charities—reinforces Ms. Heard's acknowledgement of the conclusion of the legal system's rigorous pursuit for justice."
In early June, a Virginia jury ruled that Heard, who filed for divorce from the actor in 2016, was liable of defaming Depp in her 2018 Washington Post op-ed—a piece in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse" without naming Depp.
The Pirates of the Caribbean alum was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, though the punitive damages were later reduced to $350,000, the state's statutory cap.
In Heard's statement announcing the "difficult" decision she made to settle the case, the actress noted that she "has made no admission," nor is it an "act of concession."
"I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system," she said, "where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder."
She also noted that even if her appeal—which she filed earlier this month—was in fact "successful," she would possibly face a retrial, "where a new jury would have to consider the evidence again," adding that she "simply cannot go through that" again.
"In settling this case," Heard concluded, "I am choosing the freedom to dedicate my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce; work that exists in realms in which I feel seen, heard and believed, and which I know I can effect change."