Kamal Ghorui
Amber Heard recently featured in a documentary titled ‘Silenced.’ The film is based on how defamation laws are often used against abuse survivors in many cases. During her segment on the feature, Heard shared some comments about her trial with Johnny Depp and how the aftermath has had a major effect on her life. Now, years after the verdict, Heard made a rare comment about the divorce, the defamation cases, as well as all of the public backlash that followed.
Amber Heard talks about the trial with Johnny Depp
The film ‘Silenced’ was screened for the first time at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, in which Amber Heard talked about the aftermath of the trial with director Selina Miles. Reported by Variety, the actress commented about how the interview is not about her, and that she no longer has the ability to comment or use her voice in public about things anymore.“I have lost my ability to speak. 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,” she stated while talking to the director. She also added that while she no longer feels that she can use her voice, she still feels empowered by those who share their story courageously going forward. She added, “It gives me strength seeing other people take on the fight. Women brave enough to address the imbalance of power. Looking at my daughter’s face as she grows up and slowly starts to walk into this world … I believe it can be better.”
About Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s defamation case
The ‘John C. Depp, II v. Amber Laura Heard’ defamation case was held in 2022 and ruled in Depp’s favor on claims of defamation. The actress was then ordered to pay approximately USD 1 million to her ex-husband as the lawsuit ruled in his favor. Initially, Depp had filed a USD 50 million lawsuit against the ‘Aquaman’ actress, to which she had responded by filing a countersuit claiming USD 100 million in defamation damages. The trial was heavily televised across the world, and became a public spectacle until the final hearing ruled in Depp’s favor and even granted him USD 2 million in compensation, on top of the money that his ex-wife had to pay.
About ‘Silenced’
The documentary tells the story of multiple defamation cases against a woman. These include ‘Catalina Ruiz-Navarro’s fight for press freedom in Colombia,’ and ‘Brittany Higgins’ struggle within Australia’s political establishment.’ The official description of the film reads, “After #MeToo broke the cultural silence on gender violence, international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson fights against the weaponization of defamation laws to silence survivors.”
