AS she strode the red carpet for the first time in four years, Amber Heard held her head high – despite being aware of the threats to her life.
Extra police had been drafted in to the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily at the weekend to protect the American actress from any deranged fans of her former husband Johnny Depp.
But the domestic abuse activist smiled confidently as she focused on getting her film career back on track at the world premiere of her new movie, In The Fire.
Since she accused Pirates Of The Caribbean star Johnny of “verbal and physical abuse” seven years ago, the 37-year-old star of the £900million 2018 box office hit Aquaman has been caught in a legal tornado that has dominated much of her life.
Rather than supporting Amber during those troubled times, film producers considered cutting her from the Aquaman sequel, she has been forced to sell her home in California to pay her legal fees and has opted to quit Hollywood and make a fresh start in Spain.
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In sharp contrast, 60-year-old Johnny received a seven-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May and there is talk of bringing him back as Captain Jack Sparrow in the sixth Pirates film.
But this week Amber struck a defiant tone, declaring: “What I have been through, what I’ve lived through, doesn’t make my career at all.
“And it’s certainly not going to stop my career.”
The Texan actress has also shown that being a single woman has not stopped her becoming a mum.
Hard work
She has a two-year-old daughter, Oonagh Paige, by a surrogate and an unnamed father, and Amber has posted joyful images of herself having fun at home with the toddler.
She said in 2021: “I decided I wanted to have a child. I wanted to do it on my own terms.
“I hope we arrive at a point in which it’s normalised to not want a ring in order to have a crib.
“I’m just the mom and the dad. She’s the boss.”
And mother and daughter appear to be thriving in Spain, a long way from toxic Tinseltown.
At first Amber rented a plush pad on the island of Mallorca, before settling in Madrid, where she has been seen posing happily for photos with fans.
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After making her clean break Amber has found the positive in moving to Europe, saying: “I’m very happy in Spain, and I hope I can spend more time here.
“I love living in this country with my daughter.”
Her supporters, so often drowned out online by Depp-supporting trolls, also came out to wish her well at her movie premiere on Saturday.
In The Fire, directed by fellow Texan Conor Allyn, is a small production with a largely European cast — whereas Amber’s forthcoming superhero sequel, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, is a big-budget blockbuster starring Ben Affleck which is sure to put her back on the world stage.
That success, she insists, is down to her own hard work.
This week, during a press chat, she said: “What I have is something that I’ve made myself.
“The odds of that in this industry are really improbable but somehow, here I am.
“I think I’ve earned respect for that to be its own thing.”
In The Fire was made in between Johnny’s defamation case in London in 2020 against The Sun, which he lost, and the one he brought in the States against Amber last year, which he won.
The judge in the British case said that 12 out of the 14 alleged assaults by Johnny on Amber had been “proved to the civil standard”.
But a jury in Virginia decided that Amber had defamed Johnny — who she divorced in 2017 — by writing an opinion piece in the Washington Post about domestic abuse, even though her former husband was not named in the article.
The question many people are asking is whose career will come back stronger in the wake of those conflicting verdicts.
One keen watcher thinks Amber could enjoy at least three more decades at the top.
Nick Wallis, author of Depp v Heard: The Unreal Story, says: “After all the legal shenanigans the actual decision whose reputation will be restored and who will do better rests with the Hollywood studio bosses.
“They will be weighing up all the reaction to the films they have both released.
“If the second Aquaman does well she potentially has a long career ahead of her.”
Nick, who sat through the US trial, sees signs that movie bosses are now getting behind Amber.
Having earlier sounded out other actresses about her role as warrior princess Mera in the underwater superhero flick, head honchos have now released a lot of footage of Amber in the forthcoming film, and Nick says: “That was a potent endorsement by the Hollywood studios.”
In contrast there was a backlash after Johnny’s new movie Jeanne Du Barry opened the Cannes festival in May.
While his fans were in the South of France to cheer him on, a number of feminists criticised the decision to give an alleged abuser so much prominence.
The reviews for the period French film were not kind either, with the Hollywood Reporter describing it as “flat and shallow”.
Now there is talk of Johnny returning as the swashbuckling anti-hero Captain Jack Sparrow in the next Pirates Of The Caribbean instalment, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer saying he would “love to see him in the movie”.
At Cannes Johnny was looking for funding for a film called Modi, about 20th century Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, which is also rumoured to star Al Pacino.
But if his movie career does not reignite, Johnny has music and advertising to fall back on.
Next month he will be touring Britain with his all-star band the Hollywood Vampires, which includes Alice Cooper and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry.
Although last month Johnny had to postpone some dates after fracturing his ankle, the money keeps rolling in.
Since 2015 he has advertised Christian Dior’s Sauvage men’s fragrance and this year he signed a new £15million deal with the company.
Meanwhile, Amber had to juggle legal battles with making In The Fire and being a new mum.
When the baby arrived she was still dating cinematographer Bianca Butti, but the strain of a long-distance relationship is said to have brought their two-year fling to an end.
Since then Amber has been romantically linked to Scottish music writer Eve Barlow, who is a fierce defender of the actress on social media.
Amber has long been open about being attracted to both sexes, and her other partners are said to have included Elon Musk and Cara Delevingne.
In the fallout from her time with Johnny, she had to sell her California home to pay her legal fees and is reported to have made £400,000 from the sale.
The American jury awarded Johnny £12million in damages, while also awarding Amber £1.6million for her counter-claim.
An insurance policy covered much of that loss, but not all of it.
In December the warring exes came to an agreement that Amber has to pay Johnny £900,000, which will be donated to charity.
Afterwards Johnny’s lawyers said his “priority was about bringing the truth to light.”
At the same time Amber said: “I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession.
“There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice, moving forward.”
That doesn’t mean the threat of further legal action by her former husband is not hanging over her.
Amber made it clear at the Sicily film festival this week that she wouldn’t talk about Johnny.
Even so, there have been reports that she is writing her memoirs, which would more than recoup those losses.
An insider said: “She won’t be silenced.”
