ACTRESS Amber Heard has said she continues to pay the price women do for “speaking out against men in power” ahead of a $100million trial against ex Johnny Depp.

The star, who will face Depp in a US court this week, told fans she hoped she and Johnny could “move on” after the defamation case.

3 Amber Heard has said she continues to pay the price women do for 'speaking out against men in power' Credit: The Sun

3 Depp will face Heard in a US court this week Credit: Getty

Heard, 35, said Johnny was suing her for a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote recounting her experience of violence and domestic abuse.

“I never named him, I wrote about the price women pay for speaking against men in power,” she said.

Depp, 58, sued for $50million over the article and Heard then counter-sued for double that.

The two will fight it out in a Virginia courthouse house where state defamation laws are more laxed.

Depp's lawyers claim the 2018 article, titled: I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change, 'falsely implies' Heard suffered physical and sexual abuse during her marriage to the Hollywood actor.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star said the accusations have made it difficult to find work.

Heard's lawyers are expected to argue she should be immune from the libel suit because of a Virginia law known as an anti-Slapp provision (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation).

The provision is designed to protect people from nuisance lawsuits when they speak about matters of public concern.

Heard's lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, says the article addresses the very serious issue of domestic violence.

The actress has also filed a counterclaim for defamation against her ex husband because of statements his lawyer made about her.

The case is being brought in Virginia, rather than in California where the actors reside, because the Washington Post's online editions are published through servers located in Fairfax County.

Depp's lawyers say one of the reasons they brought the case in Virginia is because the state's anti-Slapp law is not as broad as the one in California.

It comes after Depp lost a similar defamation case against the The Sun in London.

The 2018 piece by The Sun's executive editor Dan Wootton referred to Depp as a 'wife-beater' in the headline.

Following a 16-day trial in July 2021, a judge ruled the content of the article to be 'substantially true'.

Depp has been refused permission to appeal against the decision at the Court Of Appeal.