Amber Heard has referenced her legal battles with ex-husband Johnny Depp in a new documentary, which debuted at Sundance on Saturday (January 24).
Silenced is directed by Selina Miles and international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson. The film explores men weaponising defamation lawsuits in order to silence women accusing them of abuse. While Heard’s experiences are referenced in the film, it focuses more squarely on other subjects, such as a political staff member and a journalist who went through their own defamation lawsuits.
In 2018, Amber Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in which she alleged she was domestically abused by Johnny Depp. In 2020, Depp lost a libel case in the UK against The Sun for referring to him as a “wife beater” in their reporting. The situation led to Depp being dropped from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, with the role of Gellert Grindelwald being recast with Mads Mikkelsen for the third film, The Secrets Of Dumbledore.
In 2022, Johnny Depp won a defamation case against Heard in the US, awarding him $10million (£8million) in compensatory damages and $5million in punitive damages. The jury found that Heard’s statements about her marriage were “false” and that she acted with “actual malice”.
Throughout the cases, Depp has repeatedly denied any and all accusations made against him.
Heard has not appeared in a film since 2023’s Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, which was shot prior to the 2022 trial. The actor agreed to take part in Silenced, but was clear on her intentions for doing so. “This is not about me,” she said in the film according to a report from Variety. “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 any more. That’s the problem.”
She continued: “When I first met [Robinson], I immediately got the sense that she got the bigger picture. What has happened to me is an amplified version of what a lot of women live through.” The film, which is currently seeking cinema distribution, reportedly ends with the actor discussing the other interviewees in the production.
“It gives me strength seeing other people take on the fight,” she said. “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.”
Last summer, Johnny Depp spoke about studio Warner Bros’ reaction to the headlines generated by the legal disputes, revealing they asked him to “retire” from acting.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
The post Amber Heard breaks silence in new Sundance film appeared first on NME.