“I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system,” she said, “where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder.”
 
She also noted that even if her appeal—which she filed earlier this month—was in fact “successful,” she would possibly face a retrial, “where a new jury would have to consider the evidence again,” adding that she “simply cannot go through that” again.

“In settling this case,” Heard concluded, “I am choosing the freedom to dedicate my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce; work that exists in realms in which I feel seen, heard and believed, and which I know I can effect change.”