Amber Heard confirms permanent move to Madrid after Depp trial: ‘I love living here’

Amber Heard has confirmed reports that she has relocated to Spain, in her first Spanish-language interview nearly one year after the Johnny Depp defamation trial.

In a video posted to TikTok, the Aquaman star can be seen talking to reporters outside her home in Madrid, where she has reportedly moved with her two-year-old daughter, Oonagh Paige.

“Amber, how is your new life here in Madrid?” the cameraman asked Heard in the clip. She replied in Spanish: “I love Spain, so much.”

When asked whether she plans on staying in the Spanish capital, Heard responded: “Yes, I hope so. Yes, yes, I love living here.”

As she waved “ciao” to the reporters, the Texas native added that she has “film projects” in the works. The cameraman then questioned whether she was attending the Cannes Film Festival – where ex-husband Johnny Depp made his red carpet return – to which she answered: “I move on. That’s life.”

Following Heard’s highly publicised defamation trial against Depp last year, the Rum Diaries star reportedly “quit Hollywood” to move to Madrid.

“She’s bilingual in Spanish and is happy there, raising her daughter away from all the noise,” a source told The Daily Mail earlier this month.

“I don’t think she is in any hurry to return to work or to Hollywood, but she will probably come back when the time is right for the right project,” they said.

Heard has since been spotted multiple times in Spain, most recently shopping at a book fair in Spain’s capital city. Back in April, a source told People that Heard “couldn’t wait to leave the US with her daughter” after the defamation trial reached a verdict last June.

“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 at the time. “She is excited about working and filming again. She was exhausted and disappointed about the trial. She felt she was mistreated.”

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

Depp sued Heard for $50m over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post that implied she was a victim of domestic abuse. Though she did not name Depp, he claimed her allegations have made it difficult for the actor to land movie roles. In June 2022, the jury determined Heard defamed Depp on all three counts and awarded him $10m (£8.2m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4.1m) in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2m (£1.6m) in compensatory damages.

Heard then filed a notice of appeal one month after the initial verdict, with her attorney citing “errors” made by the court. However, she decided to withdraw the appeal last December, calling the decision to settle with Depp “very difficult”, and something that had required “a great deal of deliberation”.

Meanwhile, Depp made his return to the spotlight at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of his French-language film, Jeanne du Barry. On 16 May, the 59-year-old actor walked the red carpet ahead of the movie premiere, which marked Depp’s first lead role since he won last year’s defamation case against Heard.

Despite his comeback, legions of Heard supporters took to social media to protest the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s slow return to Hollywood by launching an online campaign with the hashtag #CannesYouNot to criticise both the festival and Depp.