TheQuartering [4/11/2022]
Amber Heard has shared a public message ahead of “facing” ex-husband Johnny Depp in court.
The defamation case is scheduled to begin on Monday (11 April) in Fairfax, Virginia, and Heard has expressed hope that, once it concludes, the pair can “move on”.
This latest trial stems from a complaint filed in 2019 by Depp, who alleges Heard defamed him in an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018.
In the op-ed, she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”. He has asked for $50m (£38.4m) in damages.
Heard filed a counterclaim, accusing Depp of allegedly orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his own lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.” She has asked for $100m (£76.8m) in damages, and for immunity from Depp’s claims.
Ahead of the trial, Heard told her Instagram followers: “I’m going to go offline for the next several weeks. As you may know, I’ll be in Virginia where I face my ex-husband Johnny Depp in court.”
She continued: “Johnny is suing me for an op-ed I wrote in The Washington Post, in which I recounted my experience of violence and domestic abuse. I never named him, rather I wrote about the price women pay for speaking against men in power. I continue to pay that price, but hopefully when this case concludes, I can move on and so can Johnny.
“I have always maintained a love for Johnny and it brings me great pain to have to live out the details of our past life together in front of the word,” Heard said.