Amber Heard has spoken publicly — and briefly — about the legal fights that followed her split from ex-husband Johnny Depp, appearing in a new documentary that examines how defamation laws can be used against people who report abuse.
The 39-year-old actress is featured in Silenced, a film focused on what it describes as the weaponization of defamation statutes against abuse survivors. The documentary screened at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Jan. 24.
In the film, Heard discusses the aftermath of the widely publicized defamation cases involving her and Depp, 62, in a conversation with director Selina Miles.
“This is not about me,” Heard says in the documentary, per 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 anymore. That’s the problem.”
International human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson — who worked with Heard during Depp’s lawsuit against British newspaper The Sun — also appears in the documentary.
Looking back on the Sun case, Heard says the topic of speaking to the press came up near the end of the trial. “I remember at the close of the trial, the idea that I could say something to the press came up,” she says. “[Robinson] asked if I was sure about that. [I thought], ‘If they throw things at me, it will make this point more obvious.’ I didn’t understand it could get so much worse for me as a woman, using my voice.”
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According to the Sundance Film Festival website, Silenced also follows “Catalina Ruiz-Navarro’s fight for press freedom in Colombia,” and “Brittany Higgins’ struggle within Australia’s political establishment.”
“When women speak out, powerful systems move to discredit and punish them,” the documentary’s description states.
Heard says in Silenced that seeing others speak out motivates her.
“It gives me strength seeing other people take on the fight. Women brave enough to address the imbalance of power,” she says. “Looking at my daughter’s face as she grows up and slowly starts to walk into this world … I believe it can be better.”
Heard is a mother of three young children — twins, Ocean and Agnes, and daughter Oonagh Paige.
After Heard and Depp separated in 2016, she cited irreconcilable differences in a divorce filing and sought a temporary restraining order amid allegations of domestic violence. The pair reached a $7 million divorce settlement in August of that year.
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In March 2019, Depp sued Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post.
In November 2020, Depp lost his libel case against The Sun over the outlet calling him a “wife-beater.” The court upheld the claims as “substantially true,” and Heard testified during the proceedings. In March 2021, Depp’s attempt to overturn that decision was overruled.
In April 2022, court proceedings began in Depp’s U.S. defamation case against Heard. During the trial, both accused the other of physical, emotional, and mental abuse.
After a closely watched six-week trial, a jury found Heard liable on all three defamation counts connected to her 2018 op-ed and ordered her to pay $10.35 million in damages. Depp was ordered to pay $2 million after Heard prevailed on one of three claims in her countersuit.
Both later filed appeals, but ultimately agreed to a settlement in which Heard would pay Depp $1 million, which he said he would donate to multiple charities.
