Did Amber Heard donate $7M divorce money to charity as vowed? Johnny Depp sues nonprofit ACLU for keeping mum
After the shocking and ugly separation between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in 2016, Heard had famously declared that she did not want any of Depp's money as part of the divorce settlement. Instead, she had vowed to donate the $7 million settlement between two charitable causes. However, Johnny Depp is now suing the American Civil Liberties Union for refusing to reveal whether Heard had actually donated the promised $3.5 million yet.
While the battle between Depp and Heard turns more and more ugly each passing day, Depp's lawyers now want to prove that Heard had lied about the giveaway promise - both in media interviews as well as in the evidence she submitted to a London court. Recently, the Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation against Amber Heard on charges of perjury in her domestic violence accusations against Johnny Depp.
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Has Amber Heard donated divorce money to charity?
According to Daily Mail, the 'Aquaman' actress promised to donate her divorce settlement amount of $7 million to two good causes. She chose the Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as the charities for donating $3.5 million to each.
In 2020, Depp had lost a defamation case against UK newspaper 'The Sun' which referred to him as 'wife-beater' in their article. During the trial of the case, Heard had mentioned her charitable donation in a witness statement.
Issued on February 26, 2020, Amber Heard stated, "I remained financially independent from him [Depp] the whole time we were together and the entire amount of my divorce settlement was donated to charity."
Her admission of the gracious gesture was noted by the judge and eventually played a key role in deciding the case against Depp. "Her donation of the $7 million to charity is hardly the act one would expect of a gold-digger," Judge Andrew Nichol noted in writing.
However, in January 2021, a series of documents were released by the Children's Hospital authorities which suggested that the institution has received only $100,000 so far, way short of the promised $3.5 million.
On the other hand, the ACLU declined Depp's request to cooperate and reveal their donation data. Now, Depp has filed a motion in the New York Supreme Court to create pressure on the nonprofit organization. The Daily Mail states that the lawsuit will force the organization to end their 'outrageous stonewalling' and comply with Depp's demands through subpoenas.
Can Johnny Depp use 'missing' payments to challenge ruling?
Earlier, Depp had raised the issue of the 'missing' charity payments while challenging the defamation ruling. His lawyers have argued that the UK court was fed a "calculated and manipulated lie, designed to achieve a potent favorable impression." But a panel of judges dismissed the new evidence citing that it would not make any difference and refused Depp's bid for an appeal.
However, the Daily Mail notes that Depp can deploy the same arguments in a $50 million defamation suit filed in Virginia, which accuses Heard of falsely claiming to be a domestic violence survivor in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. He claims that though the article did not mention his name, it ruined his reputation and got him removed from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise.
Interestingly, Amber Heard is believed to have got the idea for the op-ed article from ACLU. Jessica Weitz, a co-executive producer at the nonprofit which fights for human rights, suggested Heard about the op-ed. After receiving the first installment of donation in 2016, the Children's Hospital thanked Heard for her 'tremendous gift'. However, documents reveal that they wrote to the actress in 2019 enquiring about the further donations as promised.
Meanwhile, Heard's attorney said that she intended to fulfill her promise of donating $7 million eventually.