At the 2026 Sundance Film Festival during the premiere of the new documentary Silenced - a film exploring how defamation lawsuits are used to silence survivors of abuse - #AmberHeard spoke publicly for one of the first times in years about the impact of her legal battles with ex-husband Johnny Depp. Reflecting on how the intense scrutiny and backlash affected her life, she said she “didn’t understand it could get so much worse for me as a woman, using my voice,” and added, “I have lost my ability to speak… I don’t want to use my voice anymore,” explaining that the experience left her feeling pushed into silence rather than heard.