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    Johnny Depp, Amber Heard settle defamation appeals

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1085 Views
    This combination of photos shows actor Johnny Depp testifying at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Va., on April 21, 2022, left, and actor Amber Heard testifying in the same courtroom on May 26, 2022. Depp won the defamation suit against Heard last month in a high-profile civil trial. (AP Photo, File)

    By Matthew Barakat

    FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) --

    Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have settled their defamation lawsuits following a high-profile trial earlier this year in which the former couple accused each other of physical and verbal abuse.

    Heard announced the settlement Monday on social media. Both sides had filed appeals of various aspects of the jury's verdicts in June. The seven-person civil jury had awarded Depp $10 million in damages, but also awarded $2 million to Heard.

    Depp's camp said the deal includes a $1 million payment from her to him to settle all financial claims.

    Depp's lawyers said he will donate that money to charity.

    "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. The jury's unanimous decision and the resulting judgement in Mr. Depp's favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place," Depp's lawyers, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vazquez, said.

    Both sides argued to a jury in Fairfax County Circuit Court that the other had defamed them. Depp said he was libeled by Heard when she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post describing herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse."

    Depp's lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name because, they argued, it clearly referenced abuse allegations Heard had made against Depp during divorce proceedings.

    Heard, on the other hand, said she was defamed by Depp when one of his lawyers called her abuse allegations a "hoax."

    In a post Monday on Instagram, Heard said the decision to settle was difficult.

    "I never chose this," she wrote. "I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimised when they come forward."

    The trial stretched over several months and became something of a cultural phenomenon as millions of Americans watched the televised proceedings. Ostensibly a defamation case, the trial frequently devolved into ugly mudslinging as both Depp and Heard took the stand over multiple days denying each other's abuse allegations and accusing each other of horrible behavior during their brief marriage.

    At the courthouse and across the country, Depp's supporters backed him fervently, and Heard was routinely mocked as she detailed allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

    The ruling at the Virginia court in Depp's favor came after a judge in the United Kingdom ruled against Depp in a libel suit he brought there against a British tabloid. The judge in that 2020 case concluded that Heard had indeed been subject to abuse at Depp's hands on multiple occasions.

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    Tags:Amber HeardJohnny Depp



    “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson backs long shot de-extinction plan, starring the lost moa

    Tuesday, July 8, 2025
    Filmmaker Peter Jackson, left, and Colossal CEO Ben Lamm hold up bones from Jackson's collection of extinct moa bones in Wellington, New Zealand, 2024. (Courtesy of Colossal Biosciences via AP)

    Filmmaker Peter Jackson owns one of the largest private collections of bones of an extinct New Zealand bird called the moa. His fascination with the flightless ostrich-like bird has led to an unusual partnership with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to bring back lost species.

    On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences announced an effort to genetically engineer living birds to resemble the extinct South Island giant moa – which once stood 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall – with $15 million in funding from Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh. The collaboration also includes the New Zealand-based Ngāi Tahu Research Centre.

    "The movies are my day job, and the moa are my fun thing I do," said Jackson. "Every New Zealand schoolchild has a fascination with the moa."

    Outside scientists say the idea of bringing back extinct species onto the modern landscape is likely impossible, although it may be feasible to tweak the genes of living animals to have similar physical traits. Scientists have mixed feelings on whether that will be helpful, and some worry that focusing on lost creatures could distract from protecting species that still exist.

    The moa had roamed New Zealand for 4,000 years until they became extinct around 600 years ago, mainly because of overhunting. A large skeleton brought to England in the 19th century, now on display at the Yorkshire Museum, prompted international interest in the long-necked bird.

    Unlike Colossal's work with dire wolves, the moa project is in very early stages. It started with a phone call about two years ago after Jackson heard about the company's efforts to "de-extinct" – or create genetically similar animals to – species like the woolly mammoth and the dire wolf.

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