Amber Heard breaks silence on life in Spain: ‘I move on’

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Amber Heard is loving her new life in Europe and has no plans to move back to America after decamping to Spain with her two-year-old daughter, Oonagh Paige.

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The actress moved to Madrid after losing her high-profile defamation court battle against her ex-husband Johnny Depp last year.

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Caught outside her home, Heard, 37, said she isn’t missing Hollywood and has no plans to leave Europe.

In a video posted to TikTok, local reporters peppered the Aquaman actress about her new life abroad. “I love Spain so much,” Heard replied in Spanish. When she was asked if she planned on staying, Heard replied, “Yes, I hope so. Yes, I love living here.”

As Heard went to say goodbye to the people filming her, she said, “I hope you are well, ciao. And thank you, nice to meet you.”

But after she was asked if she has movie projects on the horizon, Heard was quick to confirm that she isn’t retiring from Hollywood. “Oh yeah,” she said. “I move on. That’s life.”

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After losing a libel case against the U.K. Sun in 2020 (which called him a “wife-beater”), Depp, 59, sued Heard in Virginia for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed in which she claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse. The Edward Scissorhands star claimed the article ruined his career and maintained she was the abuser in their relationship.

Last June, a seven-person jury mostly sided with him, awarding the three-time Oscar nominee $10.35 million in damages. Heard counter-sued Depp, who was found guilty on one count of defamation through his former lawyer Adam Waldman.

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During the six-week trial, jurors and people watching at home online got a peek into the couple’s extravagant and sordid relationship.

At one point, Depp alleged that Heard or one of her pals “dropped a grumpy” in their bed after an argument erupted over his tardiness for her 30th birthday party. The actor claims he left their condo in downtown Los Angeles for another home in the Hollywood Hills after she became angry with him.

After Heard was found liable on three counts of defamation against her ex, Depp released an album and toured with his late friend Jeff Beck. The Pirates of the Caribbean star also signed on to play King Louis XV opposite costar and director Maïwenn in Jeanne Du Barry, which premiered earlier this month in Cannes.

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Following the verdict, Depp said in a statement that the jury “gave me my life back.” Heard, meanwhile, said the judgment was a “setback” for other survivors of domestic violence.

A juror speaking to ABC News said that “a lot of Amber’s story didn’t add up” and that “the majority of the jury felt she was the aggressor.”

Post-trial, a source told PEOPLE that Heard couldn’t wait to get out of the United States, where her every move, including her hunt for bargains at a T.J. Maxx, continued to make headlines.

“She has been living in Spain, where she gets more privacy. The trial was beyond stressful for her and she just wanted to start fresh out of the country,” the source said. “She is excited about working and filming again. She was exhausted and disappointed about the trial. She felt she was mistreated.”

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The insider added, “This is all behind her now, though. She has new energy and is focused on things that she loves.”

According to sources speaking to the New York Post last June, Heard had been left “broke” by her hefty legal fees and was struggling after “lavish spending, on travel, clothes, gifts and wine.”

After both parties appealed the verdicts, the pair settled their defamation lawsuits in December, with Depp’s camp saying that the deal included a $1 million payment from her to him which would be donated to charity.

“We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light. The jury’s unanimous decision and the resulting judgment in Mr. Depp’s favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place,” Depp’s lawyers, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vazquez, said in a statement.

In an Instagram post, Heard said the decision to settle was difficult.

“I never chose this,” she wrote. “I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed. The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are re-victimized when they come forward.”

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