Netflix’s ‘Depp v Heard’ Reveals Amber Heard Actually Has Donated Portion of Divorce Settlement Money to Charities

Netflix’s docuseries Depp v Heard has its work cut out for it. The 2022 court case wherein Johnny Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard caught the attention of millions and created an intense pop culture moment, the likes of which we rarely see. It’s rare for any news story to stay in the zeitgeist for more than 24 hours, let alone nearly two months. The highly contentious legal battle inspired millions of memes and earned lots of views (and therefore lots of money) for many, many TikTok comedians and YouTube pundits. Now the docuseries Depp v Heard aims to do the impossible: set the record straight. And yes, that includes putting the incendiary “pledge/donation” moment into context.

During the trial, Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez questioned Heard about her comments on a Danish talk show wherein the actress says she donated the $7 million she received from her divorce from Depp to charities — specifically the ACLU and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Heard’s point is that she did not want money from Depp then, and she only wants to clear her name now. So Heard again, on the stand, claims to have donated the full amount to those charities — but Vasquez has an issue with her word choice.

Vasquez restates her question: “Sitting here today, you have not donated the seven million dollars — donated, not pledged, donated — the seven million dollar divorce settlement to charity.” Heard counters by saying that she uses pledge and donate synonymously, to which Vasquez responds, “I don’t use it synonymously.” Heard tries to clarify by saying “that’s how donations are paid,” but this line of questioning had already undermined her credibility in the eyes of the jurors and lots of people on social media.

This is where Depp v Heard’s mission statement kicks in. The doc follows up this explosive court moment with context from all sides, including a montage of legal experts and TikTok scholars rolling their eyes at Heard trying to use “donate” and “pledge” synonymously. Then the doc shows tweets that backup what Heard is saying, noting incidences wherein the ACLU and the press have used the terms synonymously. The tweets seen in the documentary follow:

HOW 👏🏻 MANY 👏🏻 TIMES 👏🏻 DO 👏🏻 I 👏🏻 NEED👏🏻 TO👏🏻 SAY 👏🏻 THAT👏🏻 THE 👏🏻 ACLU 👏🏻 USES 👏🏻 PLEDGE 👏🏻 AND 👏🏻 DONATE 👏🏻INTERCHANGEABLY 👏🏻

So it’s a NONISSUE that Amber Heard did too & most certainly not a lie. #IStandWithAmberHeard. pic.twitter.com/MsmidvM7mZ

— ꧁𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍𝙰𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎꧂ (@LeaveHeardAlone) July 3, 2022

Amber Heard could set her money on fire for all I care. It’s irrelevant to the fact she was abused.

But here is a 🧵of examples of media/donors using pledge/donation interchangeably: because people do this all the time. #IStandwithAmberHeard #ISupportAmberHeard

— ꧁𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍𝙰𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎꧂ (@LeaveHeardAlone) June 20, 2022

The documentary caps off this segment with text reading:

The ACLU attributed $1.3 million towards a plan to donate $3.5 million over the next ten years.

The Los Angeles Children’s Hospital testified that as of June 2018, they had received $250,000 in connection with the $3.5 million pledge.

During the trial, the ACLU’s COO Terence Dougherty confirmed Heard’s donations and testified that he had no reason to believe that he was “not aware of any indication that Ms. Heard has decided to no longer pay additional amounts.” As for why her payments stopped in 2018, Heard claims that legal expenses springing from Depp suing her in May 2019 are at least partly to blame.

“I still fully intend on honoring all of my pledges,” said Heard during the trial, in a moment not included in the docuseries. “I would love him to stop suing me so I can.”

Depp v Heard premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, August 16.