Amber Heard Is Focused on 'Work That Helped Me Heal After My Divorce' amid Johnny Depp Settlement

Tommy McArdle
·2 min read
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Amber Heard attends the Saint Laurent Mens Spring Summer 20 Show on June 06, 2019 in Paradise Cove Malibu, California.
Amber Heard attends the Saint Laurent Mens Spring Summer 20 Show on June 06, 2019 in Paradise Cove Malibu, California.
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Neilson Barnard/Getty Amber Heard

Amber Heard is focused on her future after announcing that she will settle the defamation case brought against her by ex-husband Johnny Depp.

On Monday, as Heard, 36, announced she had made "a very difficult decision" to settle the case, the actress shared that she is "also choosing the freedom to dedicate my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce" from Depp, 59, who was awarded more than $10 million in damages after a seven-person jury found that Heard defamed Depp in her 2018 op-ed about domestic violence.

The Aquaman actress wrote on Instagram that she will focus on "work that exists in realms in which I feel seen, heard and believed, and in which I know I can effect change," after the decision to settle, which comes weeks after she appealed the defamation verdict in November.

"I will not be threatened, disheartened or dissuaded by what happened from speaking the truth," Heard wrote in a statement. "No one can and no one will take that from me. My voice forever remains the most valuable asset I have."

RELATED: Amber Heard Announces 'Very Difficult Decision' to Settle Johnny Depp Defamation Case

"Time is precious and I want to spend my time productively and purposefully," Heard wrote elsewhere in the statement. "For too many years I have been caged in an arduous and expensive legal process, which has shown itself unable to protect me and my right to free speech."

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The actress added that she "cannot afford to risk an impossible bill - one that is not just financial, but also psychological, physical and emotional" by continuing to appeal the verdict. "Women shouldn't have to face abuse or bankruptcy for speaking her truth, but unfortunately it is not uncommon."

Johnny Depp testifies in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, April 25, 2022. - Actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Photo by Steve Helber / POOL / AFP) (Photo by STEVE HELBER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images); Amber Heard arrives in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 3, 2022. - US actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Photo by JIM WATSON / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Steve Helber/POOL/AFP/Getty; JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP/Getty Johnny Depp; Amber Heard

Heard, who most recently appeared onscreen in the 2019 movie Gully, the 2020 CBS miniseries The Stand and Zack Snyder's Justice League, is scheduled to appear in the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and In the Fire, both in post-production, according to IMDB.

RELATED: Johnny Depp Was Google's No. 1 Trending Person in 2022, Followed by Will Smith and Amber Heard

The actress previously denied a report in June that she had been removed from the Aquaman sequel, which is set to hit theaters in March 2023.

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"The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane," a spokesperson for Heard told PEOPLE in response to a Just Jared  report that claimed sources told the outlet that Heard is "being cut out of" the movie.