Actress Amber Heard could face a police perjury probe after attorneys got her to admit that, despite claiming under oath to donate $3.5 million from her divorce settlement with Johnny Depp, she has yet to donate the money.
Heard claimed to donate $3.5 million to charity but never did
Following the divorce settlement between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the actress claimed several times, including under oath in her 2020 libel case in the UK, that she had donated the entire divorce settlement to charity, the Daily Mail reported.
Heard told a Dutch talk show in 2018: “$7 million in total was donated.”
“I split it between the ACLU and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles,” Heard said on RTL Late Night in 2018. “I wanted nothing.”
But according to testimony from Heard earlier in their current UK High Court libel case, Terence Dougherty, the ACLU Chief Operating Officer, and General Counsel said only $1.3 million has been donated by Heard or on her behalf so far.
During testimony on Monday, May 16, 2022, Depp’s attorneys got Heard to admit she had failed to pay the $3.5 million she had pledged to the ACLU, despite claiming previously to have made the contribution.
During her confession, she said she had not donated the money because Depp had sued her.
“I fully intend to honor all of my pledges,” Heard told the court. “I would love for him to stop suing me so I can.”
Heard claims she didn’t care about Depp’s money
In an effort to make the point that the actress wasn’t simply out for money, Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft asked her why she accepted a $7 million settlement from Depp.
“I didn’t care about the money,” Heard replied. “I was told if I didn’t agree to a number it could be overturned, we would never settle.”
“I took far less than what they were offering and what I was entitled to,” Heard clarified, adding that she pledged the donation because she was “never interested in Johnny’s money.”
Heard admits not donating money, may face perjury probe
Legal experts in the UK told MailOnline that Amber Heard could face a police probe amid perjury claims after admitting she had not donated $3.5 million from her divorce settlement with Johnny Depp to charity. She told a UK High Court that she had.
Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez accused Heard of purposely not donating the money to charity to keep as much as possible for herself and only giving away “a fraction” of the huge sum as part of a “calculated in a manipulative lie.”
On Monday, Heard admitted to the court that she had yet to make the full donation.
While UK legal experts acknowledge perjury in a judicial proceeding is a serious offense under English law, carrying a prison sentence of up to 7 years. However, experts say perjury is notoriously difficult to bring and prosecute. With perjury not being the central issue before the court, police could investigate, but the experts believe authorities are unlikely to prosecute Heard on perjury charges.
