What is Amber Heard's Net Worth and Salary?
Amber Heard is an American actress and model who has a net worth of $500 thousand. As an actress, Amber Heard is known for appearing in movies like "Aquaman," "The Rum Diary," "Never Back Down" and "Drive Angry." Heard has also appeared on numerous television series and is known for her involvement in activism, especially in regard to LGBTQ rights.
In recent years, Amber has earned a level of infamy thanks to her association with her former husband, Johnny Depp. Though they divorced in 2016, Heard and Depp would go on to spend the next several years fighting in courtrooms and in the press.
In 2019, Depp filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard in Virginia related to a Washington Post Op-ed she penned the previous year. Heard subsequently filed a $100 million counter-defamation suit related to comments made by a Depp attorney. In June 2022, a jury in Virginia mostly sided with Depp and ordered Heard to pay him $15 million in damages. The same jury ordered Depp to pay Heard $2 million. In December 2022, Johnny agreed to accept a much-reduced $1 million payment to settle the case once and for all. More info on these defamation lawsuits later in this article.
$10 Million Judgment
As you likely know, in June 2022 a jury in Virginia found Amber guilty of defaming Johnny Depp related to the Op-ed she published in the Washington Post in 2018. The jury initially awarded Johnny $15 million, made up of $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The punitive damages were quickly reduced to $350,000 to comply with Virginia law that caps punitive damages at that level. The same jury awarded Amber $2 million. The net result is roughly $8.35 million in damages owed by Amber to Johnny.
Prior to the verdict, we estimated that Amber's net worth at $2.5 million. According to a number of reports, Amber's legal costs up to the point of the verdict were largely covered by her homeowner's insurance. As of this writing, it's not clear if her insurance would also cover the full damages. It's also possible that the damages could be reduced on appeal. If her insurance does not cover the damages, it's our understanding that Amber would struggle mightily to afford the damages.
On the morning of June 2, 2022, the day after the verdict, Amber's lawyer was asked point blank by Savannah Guthrie of "The Today Show" if Amber could afford to pay the judgment. Amber's lawyer responded, "Oh no. Absolutely not."
Amber's next move might be to file an appeal. However, before proceeding with an appeal, Amber may be forced to post a bond for the full $10.35 million judgment, which, according to her own lawyer, would not be possible with her own personal funds.
Another option, if she can not afford the judgment and it is not covered by insurance, would be for Amber to file for bankruptcy. Though, due to a legal framework, it's possible that a bankruptcy filing would not have any impact on the $10 million compensatory portion of the damages.
As it turns out, Amber agreed to pay Johnny a significantly reduced settlement of $1 million. Their agreement, which was announced in December 2022, settled the case once and for all. Technically, her insurance company agreed to foot the bill. Johnny reportedly is donating the $1 million to several charities.
Salaries and Endorsement Income
According to testimony given during the Depp v. Heard mutual defamation lawsuits, Amber Heard earned $10 million in total pre-tax income from all sources (salaries, endorsements) between 2013 and 2019. Her highest-earning year in that period was 2019, when she made around $3 million.
Testimony also revealed that Amber had a 4-picture deal with Warner Brothers that paid her $450,000 for the first movie she appeared in for the studio. She then earned $1 million for her work in the first Aquaman. She was contractually guaranteed $2 million for the sequel and $3-4 million if there was ever a third Aquaman film.
Testimony revealed that Amber earned $200,000 per episode to star in the nine-episode series "The Stand," for a total payday of $1.8 million.
Testimony revealed that Amber had a $1.625 million two-year contract with L'Oreal that guaranteed the beauty company 20 days of Amber's time.
Early Life
Amber Laura Heard was born on April 22nd, 1986, in Austin, Texas. Raised outside of Texas alongside one sibling, Heard grew up riding horses, hunting, and fishing. Although she attended Catholic high school and entered beauty pageants as a teen, she later became disillusioned with religion and the Texan lifestyle that surrounded her. As a result, she dropped out of school at 17 and moved to New York City. Although she initially found work as a model in New York, she shifted her attention to acting and subsequently moved to Los Angeles.
Career
Amber Heard started her acting career with a slew of appearances in music videos. She then appeared in TV shows such as Jack & Bobby, The Mountain, and The O.C. Her first appearance in a film came in 2004 with Friday Night Lights. The movie was successful, and it helped build her notoriety in the film world. She then booked further roles in Drop Dead Sexy, North Country, Side FX, Price to Pay, You Are Here, and Alpha Dog. She also started to appear on television shows like Criminal Minds and Californication.
Amber Heard moved on to more central roles, starring in the teen drama Hidden Palms. Unfortunately, the show received poor reviews from critics and was ultimately canceled after just eight episodes. Heard also starred in the movie Remember the Daze, which was another project that was steamrollered by poor reviews.
However, by 2008, Amber Heard was finally starting to break through and become one of Hollywood's top leading ladies. This same year, she appeared in the stoner comedy Pineapple Express alongside James Franco and Seth Rogen. She also starred in Never Back Down. Both of these films were financial successes, proving Amber Heard could lift projects to new heights. However, she also continued to appear in unsuccessful films such as The Informers and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.
In 2009, Amber Heard followed this pattern of booking roles in both successful and unsuccessful films. Although Zombieland proved to be a major step forward for her career, she also filled out the year with box office flops and critical failures such as The Joneses and The Stepfather. During the next period, Heard focused more heavily on independent films such as ExTerminators, The River Why, and, And Soon the Darkness. She also appeared in The Ward – another critical failure that delivered a mediocre box office performance.
In 2011, Amber Heard worked with Johnny Depp for the first time on The Rum Diary. The film was adapted from a book by Hunter S. Thompson, and it ultimately received mixed reviews without managing to make much of an impact at the box office. Similar stories followed with films like Drive Angry, Paranoia, Machete Kills, and Syrup.
2015 was a more successful year for Heard, as she appeared in Magic Mike XXL, The Danish Girl, The Adderall Diaries, and One More Time. For the most part, all four of these films were critically and or commercially successful. That being said, she also appeared in the catastrophic failure that was London Fields. The 2015 film suffered from accusations of fraud, with both its director and actors objecting to the final cut that was screened for audiences. The film received extremely poor reviews, and Heard was sued for $10 million for making unauthorized changes to the script and not finishing voice-over work. She then countersued, and a settlement was reached.
Heard spent the next few years appearing in various independent films, although she also gained recognition after playing the Atlantean queen Mera in the DC Extended Universe. She first played Mera in Justice League and reprised her role in 2018's Aquaman and the 2013 sequel.
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Johnny Depp Divorce
In 2016, Amber Heard filed for divorce from Johnny Depp. She also obtained a restraining order against her former husband and alleged that she had been the victim of domestic abuse during their relationship. Depp immediately denied the accusations in the midst of a media frenzy. After testifying in court and providing evidence for her accusations, Amber Heard received a $7 million settlement from Depp when the divorce was finalized. Amber then vowed to donate the settlement to charity, specifically to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the ACLU.
In January 2021, Johnny claimed that Amber had been lying about donating the money to charity. Depp's lawyers apparently reached out to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the ACLU to find out how much they had actually received from Heard. According to the Daily Mail, the ACLU refused to turn over the numbers but the Children's Hospital reported to have only received $100,000, which would be around $3.4 million shy of her allegedly promised donation. The hospital reportedly even reached out to Heard to ask "if the pledge will not be fulfilled."
In April 2022 court testimony, representatives of the ACLU testified that the organization had received a total of $1.3 million of Amber's pledged $3.5 million. However, it also was confirmed that Amber had intended the make the donation over a decade. At the same time, testimony revealed that of the $1.3 million, Amber personally provided just $350,000 directly, while $100,000 came from Depp and $500 thousand actually came from Elon Musk, another of Amber's former romantic partners. Another revelation from this period was that when the ACLU followed up on the other half of her pledged donation, Heard reported back that she was having financial difficulties.
Defamation Lawsuits
In 2018, Johnny Depp filed a lawsuit in the United Kingdom against News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun, which referred to him as a "wife beater" in an April 2018 article. The lawsuit went to trial in 2020. Both Heard and Depp testified for several days. In November 2020, a judge ruled that 12 of the 14 incidents of violence that Heard reportedly claimed to have incurred were "substantially true." Depp lost an appeal in March 2021.
In 2019, Johnny sued Amber Heard for defamation in Virginia. He sought a settlement of $50 million as a direct response to an op-ed Amber Heard had written for The Washington Post in December 2018 that detailed the alleged abuse she suffered. Although Heard never mentioned Depp by name, he felt that she was heavily implying that he was to blame for various acts of violence – despite earlier joint statements from the couple stating that "there was never any intent of physical or emotional harm" from either partner.
In addition, Depp claimed that he was actually the victim of domestic abuse as a result of Heard's behavior, which, according to him, included punching, kicking, thrown objects, and even defecation. Depp's legal team published evidence of his allegations, and Heard's attempts to have the case dismissed were denied.
Heard counter-sued in August 2020. The trial for this defamation case commenced on April 11, 2022, in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Defamation Verdict
On June 1, 2022, the jury in the Virginia case found in favor of Depp. Their ruling called for Amber to pay Johnny $15 million in defamation damages, made up of $5 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory damages. The $5 million punitive damages judgment was immediately reduced to $350,000 due to Virginia's punitive damage cap.
Interestingly, Amber was awarded $2 million in partial liabilities.
Amber's legal costs – which have almost certainly cost millions of dollars – were majority covered by an insurance policy thanks to a homeowners insurance umbrella policy. It was unclear if her insurance would also be on the hook for the full damages, either partially or fully:
In December 2022 when Johnny agreed to accept a $1 million settlement, the funds were paid by Amber's insurance company.
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Spousal Support
In 2016, Amber Heard filed for spousal support after separating from Johnny Depp. According to court filings made in the 2022 defamation lawsuit, in May 2016, Amber's lawyers offered to "keep this matter out of the spotlight" if Johnny allowed her to continue to use a Range Rover, to continue living in three of his Los Angeles penthouse apartments and to receive $125,000 for legal and accounting expenses.
Next Amber reportedly asked for $50,000 per month from Depp to cover various expenses. Court documents revealed that, according to Heard, her monthly expenses included costs like $10,000 for rent, $2,000 a month for eating out, and $10,000 for pet supplies and legal costs. She backed up her effort by claiming she was making a very small income, including $27,000 in royalties from various films.
Documents also revealed that although she had earned $250,000 from her various endeavors in 2014, she spent almost $210,000 – leaving her with a net income of only $40,000 for the year. Amber Heard also submitted documents that proved her savings only amounted to $25,000 at the time.
Ultimately, Amber Heard withdrew her request for spousal support.
Other Relationships
At some point in 2016, as she was divorcing Johnny Depp, Amber began dating billionaire Elon Musk. They apparently met in 2013 when he visited the set of "Machete Kills." They confirmed their relationship in April 2017. They confirmed their split later that year but apparently rekindled the romance in early 2018.
Real Estate
In January 2019, Amber paid $570,000 for a home in Yucca Valley, California, not far from Joshua Tree. She sold this home in July 2022 for $1.05 million.
