Amber Heard's $1 Million Settlement With Johnny Depp A 'Smart PR Move,' Expert Says

Experts weighed in on Johnny Depp's "smart PR move" after Amber Heard agreed to pay her ex-husband $1 million to settle his defamation claim against her.

Heard's decision to drop her appeal came months after the former couple's six-week defamation trial ended in June with Depp's victory. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor sued Heard over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse," insisting that the piece affected his career.

A Virginia court awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which was reduced to $350,000 due to the state's statutory cap on punitive damages.

The jury handed Heard just $2 million in her countersuit against Depp. The $1 million settlement will be paid out by one of Heard's insurance policies.

The settlement "enshrines" Depp's win in the case, civil and criminal attorney Tim Parlatore told Fox News Digital.

Parlatore said the deal was "resignation" on Heard's part and "solidified" the actor's victory.

The attorney also commented on the "Aquaman" actress' statement on Instagram Monday, in which she wrote that she "defended my truth" and clarified that she "made no admission" despite agreeing to drop her appeal. Heard also said that the deal imposes no restrictions on her ability to talk about the case or her allegations of abuse against Depp.

Parlatore suggested that Heard could be sued again if she publishes another op-ed making the same allegations that the jury found defamatory and that Depp "would win because he already has a finding."

"Everything is couched in terms of 'I spoke my truth in court,' but she doesn't come out and say he did this or that to me," the attorney told the outlet.

Todd Spodek, a New York-based attorney, praised Depp, calling the settlement a generous gesture on the actor's part, according to Fox News.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based Reputation Management Consultants chairman Eric Schiffer said the settlement served as an "incredibly smart PR move for Depp."

"It shows compassion and avoids Amber potentially having to file for bankruptcy with a young child with him having been the cause," he explained to Fox News.

Depp's attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez wrote in a statement Monday that Heard's $1 million payment would be donated to different charities. The actor and his legal team previously said that the case was never about money for him.

Depp previously fought to prove his innocence by suing The Sun in the U.K. High Court over the tabloid's article calling him a "wife beater." However, he lost the case after the judge ruled that the paper's allegations were "substantially true."