Amber Heard is subtly addressing her yearslong legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp in a new documentary.
The “Justice League” actor appears in “Silenced,” which premiered last Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, directed by Selina Miles, explores how defamation laws have been used to silence abuse survivors and includes a profile of international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson.
One of Robinson’s most high-profile clients was Heard, who makes it clear that she did not participate in “Silenced” for any personal or professional gain.
“This is not about me. I have lost my ability to speak,” she says in the film, according to Variety. “I am not here to tell my story. I don’t want to tell my story. In fact, I don’t want to use my voice anymore. That’s the problem.”
Heard and Depp were married from 2015 to 2016. Shortly after their split, Heard accused the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor of having been “verbally and physically abusive” towards her during their marriage.
Depp denied the allegations, and in 2018, filed a lawsuit against the U.K. publication The Sun for having labeled him a “wife beater” in reference to Heard. Two years later, Depp lost the case.
According to early reviews of “Silenced,” Heard does not address specifics of her relationship with Depp and their split, but nonetheless praises Robinson for having understood “the bigger picture” when her legal fight got underway.
“What has happened to me is an amplified version of what a lot of women live through,” she says, going on to describe how Depp’s supporters would hurl pieces of trash at her as she entered and exited the courtroom each day. “I didn’t understand it could get so much worse for me as a woman, using my voice.”
Despite Depp’s loss in The Sun case, his legal saga with Heard was far from over. In 2019, he sued his ex over a Washington Post op-ed she’d written in which she outlined her experience with domestic violence, but did not mention Depp by name.
Heard was found liable on three counts of defamation in relation to the article, and ordered to pay around $10.35 million in damages. As for Depp, he was instructed to pay $2 million, since Heard won one of the three claims in a countersuit.
The former couple both appealed the rulings in 2022, but later agreed to a settlement in which Heard would pay Depp $1 million, which he’d donate to several different charities.
In the wake of the legal battle, Heard relocated to Madrid, Spain, where she is raising three children and focusing on a career in theater. According to Variety, however, she concludes her appearance in “Silenced” on an optimistic, forward-thinking note.
“It gives me strength seeing other people take on the fight. Women brave enough to address the imbalance of power,” she says. “Looking at my daughter’s face as she grows up and slowly starts to walk into this world … I believe it can be better.”
Watch director Selina Miles talk about “Silenced” in the clip below.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
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