Amber Heard has decided to donate her entire $7 million settlement to two charities, she announced in a statement to Us Weekly on Thursday, August 18.
“As described in the restraining order and divorce settlement, money played no role for me personally and never has, except to the extent that I could donate it to charity and, in doing so, hopefully help those less able to defend themselves,” Heard, 30, said in the statement.
“As reported in the media, the amount received in the divorce was $7 million, and $7 million is being donated,” she continued. “This is over and above any funds that I have given away in the past and will continue to give away in the future.”
According to the statement, Heard will divide the $7 million equally between the ACLU and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
“I know these organizations will put the funds to good use and look forward to continuing to support them in the future,” Heard said. “Hopefully this experience results in a positive change in the lives of people who need it the most.”
The ACLU has in turn issued a statement thanking Heard for her donation. “We are incredibly grateful that Ms. Heard has so very generously shown her support for the important and necessary advocacy for victims of domestic violence,” Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the ACLU said in a statement. “We could not be more thankful for Ms. Heard’s support — she can be confident that this gift will help other women live safely and freely.”
Heard and her estranged husband, Johnny Depp, issued a joint statement on Tuesday, August 16, after their divorce case was finally settled.
“Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love,” the former couple said in a joint statement issued to Us. “Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm. Amber wishes the best for Johnny in the future.”
Heard filed for divorce from the 53-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean actor in May, claiming that he was verbally and physically abusive throughout their four-year relationship. (The pair tied the knot in February 2015 after three years of dating.)
As previously reported, problems in their marriage culminated in March 2015, when Depp allegedly cut off his fingertip during a fight in which he accused her of having an affair with Billy Bob Thornton.
Thornton, 61, denied the relationship to TMZ, telling the site that “[It’s] completely false.”
