Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterFor the past month, jurors in Virginia have been witness to a tabloid spectacle. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have taken turns revealing every detail of their four-year relationship, including serious allegations of bloody violence and sexual assault, as well as merely lurid accounts of screaming fights, promiscuous drug use, and bowel movements.
Heard will retake the stand on Monday as she seeks to persuade the jury that Depp physically abused her. The trial will last until early June.This is an outcome that teams of lawyers assiduously tried to avoid in 2016, when they crafted the couple’s divorce settlement.
Under the terms, Heard was paid $7 million and both parties agreed to non-disparagement and confidentiality clauses. One purpose of the agreement was to achieve “the mutual wish and desire of the parties to resolve any and all issues regarding Petitioner’s claims of domestic violence.” Non-disclosure agreements have gotten a bad name in the #MeToo era, as more has been learned about how they can be used to cover up systemic abuses.
California has gone so far as to prohibit them in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination. But they can also bring finality to messy situations and allow both sides to go their separate ways in peace.
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