In a newly released documentary, titled "Silenced," Amber Heard makes rare comments on her legal battles with her ex-husband, Johnny Depp. The 39-year-old actress features prominently in the film, which centers on the weaponization of defamation laws against abuse survivors.
The film, which premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, features Heard speaking with director Selina Miles about the aftermath of the highly publicized defamation cases she and Depp, 62, faced. "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 when Depp filed a lawsuit against British newspaper The Sun, also participated in the documentary. Commenting on The Sun trial, Heard says, "I remember at the close of the trial, the idea that I could say something to the press came up. [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."
According to the Sundance Film Festival website, "Silenced" also tells the story of Catalina Ruiz-Navarro’s fight for press freedom in Colombia and Brittany Higgins’ struggle within Australia’s political establishment. The documentary explores how powerful systems move to discredit and punish women when they speak out.
Heard says in Silenced that she feels inspired by those who speak out. "It gives me strength seeing other people take on the fight. Women brave enough to address the imbalance of power," she states. "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 mom to three young kids – twins Ocean and Agnes, and daughter Oonagh Paige. When Heard and Depp split in 2016, the actress cited irreconcilable differences in a petition for divorce and filed a temporary restraining order against Depp amid allegations of domestic violence.
Depp and Heard reached a $7 million divorce settlement that August, but in March 2019, Depp sued his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she penned for The Washington Post. In November 2020, Depp lost his lawsuit case against The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater." The court upheld the outlet's claims as being "substantially true," and Heard testified to back up the claims. In March 2021, Depp's attempt to overturn the decision was overruled.
Court proceedings for Depp's defamation trial then began over a year later in April 2022. Both he and Heard made allegations of physical, emotional, and mental abuse against each other. A verdict was reached after a controversial six-week trial, which found Heard liable on all three counts of defamation in relation to her 2018 op-ed, and she was ordered to pay $10.35 million in damages. Meanwhile, Depp was instructed to pay $2 million since Heard won one of the three claims in her countersuit. Both Depp and Heard made appeals but agreed on a settlement that Heard would pay Depp $1 million, which he would donate to several different charities.
