Amber Heard admitted that she has not donated millions of dollars to charity from her divorce settlement as she had previously promised - and blamed Johnny Depp for bringing legal action as to why.
The actress married Johnny in 2015, but the pair split a year later while their divorce was finalised in 2017. Depp is suing Heard for alleged defamation over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018, in which she said she was a victim of domestic abuse.
Despite not being named in the article, Johnny felt that it has painted him as a domestic abuser and he is seeking damages over the article – while Amber is counter suing him $100million (£81million) for his defamation claim. Testifying on Monday (May 16), the court heard that Amber received a $7 million (£5.6 million) divorce settlement.
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Amber had said previously that she granted half of the money to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the other half of the fortune to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – a non-profit organisation dedicated to defending individuals rights and freedoms.
Back in 2018, Amber said during an appearance on the Dutch talk show RTL Late Night: “$7million in total was donated - I split it between the ACLU and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. I wanted nothing.”
But in court on Monday she admitted she is yet to make the full donation: “because Johnny sued me for $50million in March of 2019," reports the Mirror. She added: “I fully intend to honour all of my pledges. I would love for him to stop suing me so I can.”
Terence Dougherty, the ACLU Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, testified earlier to say a total of $1.3million (£1 million) has either been donated by Amber or on her behalf so far. Amber’s comment about being sued appeared to reference a sensational UK court case in which Johnny attempted to sue The Sun after he was branded a ‘wife beater’ by the publication.
During that case – which Johnny lost – Amber claimed while under oath that: “the entire amount of my divorce settlement was donated to charity.” During the current trial, Amber’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft asked the actress why she accepted a $7million settlement from Depp in the first place.
The Aquaman star said: “I didn't care about the money. I was told if I didn't agree to a number it could be overturned, we would never settle. I took far less than what they were offering and what I was entitled to.”
Amber went on to say she donated the money to charity because she was “never interested in Johnny's money.” And she added: “I just wanted my safety and my future and he compromised that….I wanted him to leave me alone. I've been saying that since 2016.”
The trial continues.
