Amber Heard attends first major event since Johnny Depp trial
Amber Heard was elated to attend her first major event following her defamation trial loss against her ex-husband Johnny Depp. The 37-year-old actress, who stars in the hit movie “Aquaman,” graced the Taormina Film Festival in Italy on Friday, a day before the debut of her newest film “In the Fire.” Despite the recent controversy surrounding her, Heard’s radiant smile and laughter were apparent as she mingled with friends, cast, and crew members from the supernatural thriller. She donned a white T-shirt with a matching wrap-around skirt and paired the ensemble with black heels and loose blonde curls.
According to Deadline, the “Danish Girl” star portrays a psychiatrist in the film who is called on to investigate a disturbed child who is believed to be the devil. Heard is expected to walk the red carpet for the premiere of “In the Fire” on Saturday alongside co-star Eduardo Noriego and director Conor Allyn.
The Taormina Film Festival marks Heard’s first public appearance since her highly publicized defamation trial loss to Depp. In 2019, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star filed a $50 million lawsuit against Heard, alleging that she lied about him abusing her to receive a larger settlement in their divorce. While the jury awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages for her countersuit against Depp, she was ordered to pay him $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages for defaming him.
In December 2022, Heard dropped her appeal and announced that she had settled the defamation case with her “Rum Diary” co-star. Despite reports that she had quit Hollywood, Heard confirmed in a TikTok video that she had several projects in the works. “I keep moving forward,” she said. “That’s life.”
Amber Heard was overjoyed at her first major event since losing her defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp.
The “Aquaman” star, 37, made an appearance at the Taormina Film Festival in Italy Friday, a day before the premiere of her new film, “In the Fire.”
Heard looked radiant as she smiled, laughed and chatted with friends, cast and crew members from the supernatural thriller — which wrapped months before her trial began in April 2022.
The actress was photographed wearing a white T-shirt and matching wrap-around skirt for the event. She completed her look with a pair of black heels and wore her blonde locks in loose curls.
Heard is expected to walk the red carpet for the premiere of “In the Fire” Saturday night alongside her co-star Eduardo Noriego and the film’s director, Conor Allyn.
According to Deadline, the “Danish Girl” star plays a psychiatrist who is “called to solve the case of a disturbed child following increasingly insistent accusations that the child is the devil” in the film.
Heard’s latest outing comes more than a year after Depp’s attorneys proved that she defamed him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed about sexual violence.
The 60-year-old sued the actress for $50 million in 2019, claiming she lied about him abusing her to obtain more money in their divorce settlement.
Heard was ordered to pay the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.
Additionally, the jury awarded the mom of one $2 million in compensatory damages for her countersuit against Depp.
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Heard asked the judge to toss the jury’s verdict and requested a retrial, claiming that the judgment wasn’t supported by evidence.
However, in December 2022, she dropped her appeal and announced on Instagram that she decided to settle the defamation case with her “Rum Diary” co-star.
“It’s important for me to say that I never chose this,” she wrote at the time. “I defended my truth and in doing so my life, as I knew it, was destroyed.
“I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession.”
The “Never Back Down” actress later relocated to Madrid after the trial, and reports surfaced that she had quit Hollywood altogether.
In May, Heard shut down the rumors about her leaving acting, confirming to fans in a TikTok video that she had several projects lined up.
“I keep moving forward,” she said at the time. “That’s life.”
