A recap of one of 2022's biggest talking points after Amber Heard settles defamation case with Johnny Depp

Following what was the most high-profile court case of the year, Amber Heard announced that she will settle her case with Johnny Depp

The 36-year-old announced on December 19 that she will take futher legal action against Depp, 59.

Earlier in December 2022, Heard filed an appeal in the case, asking for the jury’s verdict to be reversed or for a new trial entirely.

However, on Monday (December, 19) Heard released a statement announcing her intention to settle. Heard explained that her decision to settle was not an act of ‘concession’ and said she had made the choice to settle "having lost faith in the American legal system".

The Aquaman actress said: "Even if my US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a retrial. I simply cannot go through that."

On the same day lawyers for Johnny Depp released a statement saying they were happy to "formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr Depp", and added that the actor would be donating the $1m settlement to a number of charities.

We recap the tulmultous court case and highlight some of its major talking points.

Depp took Heard to court for defamation regarding an article Heard wrote in 2018 of The Washington Post recounting her experience with domestic abuse in which he was not named. What ensued was a six-week televised trial that ran from April 11, 2022, to June 1, 2022 and drew widespread public scrutiny and media attention.

The former couple, who divorced in 2017, recounted differing moments of their five-year relationship. Both Depp and Heard accused the other of misbehaviour and violence.

Depp continuously denied his ex-wife’s testimony, in which she claimed he had subjected her to emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

After the long trial the jury sided mostly with Mr Depp awarding him $15m (£12m) in damages, $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The court also found Depp liable for defamation due to the statements made by his former lawyer Adam Waldman over Heard’s abuse claims. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages and no money for punitive damages.

Legal experts were surprised at the verdict due to Depp’s previous assault charges, most notably in 2020 in which Depp lost a libel case against the Sun newspaper that branded him a ‘wife-beater’.

In the UK court, Depp was found guilty of 12 of 14 assault charges on Heard. Depp denied all 14 counts of the charges. The UK court concluded that “the great majority of alleged assaults” on Amber Heard by the Pirates of the Caribbean star had been “proved to the civil standard”.