2022’s standoff between former spouses Amber Heard and Johnny Depp was among Hollywood’s biggest, and most publicized, legal detonations.
The entire affair started long before the June 2022 trial came to a very public head, but it was that final defamation trial that effectively ruined two actors’ careers for good. While Depp remained a popular figure throughout the trial, the release of further information following his sweeping victory tarnished many fan opinions. Heard, meanwhile, was successfully painted as a villain across the court proceedings — ultimately earning Depp victory in the case, along with a payout more than $1 million deep and the knowledge that she may never act again.
It certainly succeeded in edging her out of the spotlight. Following the high-profile court proceedings, Heard largely disappeared from her formerly public life. She appeared in a few pre-filmed roles across 2023, but was rarely seen working on new projects — or seen at all, for that matter. It was as if the actor vanished into thin air following her loss, but she’s still out there, just far from the judgmental eyes of the American public.
Where did Amber Heard go following Depp v. Heard?
Heard effectively vanished in the wake of her brutal loss to Depp, even as fresh details were emerging and vastly swaying public opinion on the case. During the trial, Heard was presented as a liar, an abuser, and a schemer, and careful manipulation of the story was thoroughly effective in turning the public against Depp’s former wife. Following the trial’s completion, however, further details and evidence were revealed, much of which supported Heard’s narrative.
By that point, it was too late, however, and a combination of public pressure, a virulent online hate campaign, and financial struggles following her loss led Heard to depart her formerly high-profile life for one under the radar.
In the months since she and Depp settled their differences in court, Heard has largely been absent from the states as well as the screen. She did appear in both In the Fire and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in 2023, but both projects were largely completed by the time the trial came to a close. She hasn’t signed onto any projects since, and there’s a good chance she never will.
Instead, Heard is living far from the people who dragged her name through the mud, and working hard to separate herself from the undeniably traumatic events of 2022. She moved, in the wake of the trial, to Madrid, Spain, where she’s hopefully finding peace for herself and her little one, Oonagh Paige Heard. She’s noted on several occasions how much she enjoys living in Spain, and seemingly has no plans to rejoin us in America any time soon.
The little Heard joined her mother via surrogate in 2021, and the elder Heard seems perfectly content to leave fame in the rear-view. She’s embraced motherhood, a world away, over the scrutiny and scathing words of the American public. After everything she went through in 2022, who can blame her?
Heard still keeps fans up to date on her new, low-key life via Instagram, but apart from that she seems happy to ditch the high life in favor of one without a million judgmental opinions thrown in. She’s traded out fame for peace, it seems, and she deserves every moment of it.
