Johnny Depp and Amber Heard chart new lives three years after courtroom drama

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have both moved on since their defamation trial grabbed headlines three years ago, causing fans to take sides in the bombshell-filled courtroom trial. 

Following her loss when she was ordered by the court to pay Depp $15 million for defaming him with her Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed domestic abuse, Heard sold her California home and left the country for Spain in late 2022. 

The 39-year-old wrapped filming on "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" months before the defamation trail began in April 2022, which to date is her last film. 

A year after the verdict, Heard went to the Taormina Film Festival in Italy to promote her 2023 independent film "In the Fire," which she filmed after the trial, but she doesn’t have any upcoming projects, according to IMDb.

JOHNNY DEPP WAS 'COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT' BY FAME AS A YOUNG ACTOR

A source told People magazine at the time that the actress was "excited about working and filming again. She was exhausted and disappointed about the trial. She felt she was mistreated."

But despite not having any projects on the horizon, the "Aquaman" star appears to be thriving in Spain, where she is focused on motherhood. 

Heard announced on Mother’s Day earlier this month that she recently welcomed twins Ocean and Agnes, sharing a photo on Instagram of their little feet.

"This year I am elated beyond words to celebrate the completion of the family I’ve strived to build for years," she wrote in the post. "Today I officially share the news that I welcomed twins into the Heard gang. My daughter Agnes and my son Ocean are keeping my hands (and my heart) full."

Heard welcomed her first daughter, Oonagh, in 2021, four years after she and Depp finalized their divorce following a two-year marriage.  

Heard said she didn’t think she could possibly "burst with more joy" after the birth of her oldest daughter, whose feet can also be seen in the photo of the newborns, but she added she is now "bursting times three!!!"

She continued, "Becoming a mother by myself and on my own terms despite my own fertility challenges has been the most humbling experience of my life. I am eternally grateful that I was able to choose this responsibly and thoughtfully. To all the moms, wherever you are today and however you got here, my dream family and I are celebrating with you. Love always, A." 

On her 38th birthday last year, Heard posted a photo of herself sipping a drink at a winery, calling it a "Champagne kind of birthday."

In January of last year, she also posted a photo of herself sporting her character Mera’s fire engine red hair, writing, "After all this time, Aquaman 2 made its splash (sorry, it’s too easy) Thank you to all of my fans for the overwhelming support and love in Mera’s AQ return. Thank you so much."

Heard had claimed during the trial that her role in the film was downsized because of the scandal, but the producers said it was because of a lack of chemistry with star Jason Momoa, her agent testified. 

JOHNNY DEPP SAYS HE ‘LEARNED’ FOLLOWING PAST DRAMA AND DOESN’T ‘HAVE ANY ILL FEELINGS TOWARD ANYONE’

Meanwhile, Depp, who said that Hollywood executives "stopped calling" amid the scandal which he referred to as a "soap opera" that was "literally televised," appears poised for his own comeback, a term with which the actor has taken umbrage. 

"I keep wondering about the word ‘comeback’ because I didn’t go anywhere, matter of fact I live 45 minutes away," Depp said in May 2023 at the Cannes Film Festival while promoting his new film "Day Drinker" with Penelope Cruz. "Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time."

He added, "But no, I didn’t go nowhere I’ve been sitting around so comeback is sort of like you know it’s almost like I’m gonna come out and do a tap dance."

Depp shared the "first look" at the film last month, in which he appears dapper, pairing an open-collared Navy suit with a graying beard while holding a drink. 

The actor teased that the movie was "coming soon." 

Interestingly, the movie was filmed in Spain, according to Deadline. 

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The film is "in production," according to Depp’s IMDb page, which describes it as a story in which an "enigmatic stranger forms an unlikely bond with a grieving bartender who lost her lover, their lives intertwining in unexpected ways."

Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group chair, recently said "there is no better filmmaker than [director] Marc [Webb], or two more perfectly cast actors than Johnny and Penélope to bring that world to life," according to Variety. 

Before "Day Drinker," which marks Depp’s return to Hollywood, the actor was cast in the 2023 independent film "Jeanne du Barry" and directed "Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness."

Depp received a seven-minute standing ovation at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for "Jeanne du Barry." 

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Depp is also set to play Satan in Terry Gilliam’s comedy "The Carnival at the End of Days," according to his IMDb, which could start filming sometime this year, Deadline reported. 

Last year, Depp returned to voice work, playing the title role in the animated comedy "Johnny Puff: Secret Mission." The film has a limited release in theaters before heading to streaming services. 

Depp, who was dropped from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the "Fantastic Beasts" franchises because of the accusations, reflected in 2023 about whether he felt boycotted by Hollywood.

"You’d have to not have a pulse to feel like, ‘No. None of this is happening. It’s a weird joke. When you’re asked to resign from a film you’re doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted."

In March of this year, Depp also shared a photo of an art collaboration with Paris’ Deyrolle, a curiosity museum founded in the 19th century. 

"Like so many before me, I’ve been drawn to the world of Deyrolle, a place that celebrates the strange, the beautiful, and the often-overlooked wonders of nature," Depp wrote in an Instagram post along with a photo of him looking at his drawing of an elephant. "It’s been an endless source of inspiration, and I’m deeply grateful for the chance to collaborate with them. It’s an honor, and a bit surreal, to now be part of their story, especially with a creature so close to my heart: the elephant."

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His oldest daughter, actress Lili-Rose Depp told Entertainment Tonight in 2023 that she was "super happy for him. I'm super excited" after his standing ovation for "Jeanne du Barry." 

Depp incorporated the elephant into his art in the 1990s when he was a new father and saw the animal as protective, according to Sortir a Paris. 

Depp told the jury during the trial, he wanted to clear his name for the sake of his children who are now 26 and 23, but were teenagers when the allegations broke. 

Depp sued his ex-wife for $50 million for defaming him in a December 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed to be a domestic abuse victim, although she didn’t name him in the story.

Heard countersued for $100 million and the former couple accused each other of abuse in the televised six-week-long trial that riveted fans in the spring of 2022. 

When the trial ended in June of that year, Heard was initially ordered to pay $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages to Depp, but that was lowered to $10.35 million because of a statutory cap on punitive damages in the state of Virginia after a jury ruled in favor of Depp on three separate claims of defamation. 

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Depp was also ordered to pay Heard $2 million after his lawyer called her claims a "hoax."

The two eventually settled with Heard paying Depp $1 million.