Amber Heard has urged Johnny Depp to double the $7m (£5.3m) he plans to donate to charity to avoid claims his lawyers are seeking to reduce his divorce payment.

Depp agreed to pay his estranged wife the $7m sum as part of their divorce settlement, which she pledged to donate to a domestic violence charity and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star confirmed on Thursday that he had paid the first instalments to the charities himself "in the name of Amber Heard".

But Heard's legal team claims Depp's decision to pay the charities directly rather than give the payments to Heard means he will get a charitable tax deduction and should therefore donate $14m (£10.6m) to account for that.

A spokeswoman for Heard said: "Amber Heard appreciates Johnny Depp's novel interest in supporting two of her favourite charities, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) for domestic violence and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. This is great and unexpected news.


"However, if Johnny wishes to change the settlement agreement, we must insist that he honour the full amount by donating 14 million dollars to charity, which, after accounting for his tax deduction, is equal to his seven million-dollar payment obligation to Amber.

"We would also insist that the full amount be paid immediately and not drawn out over many years.

"Anything less would be a transparent attempt by Johnny's counsel, Laura Wasser and Patti Glaser, to reduce their client's true payment by half under the guise of new-found concern for charities that he has never previously supported."

In a statement, a spokesman for Depp said: "Following Amber Heard's announcement that her divorce settlement was to be divided equally and gifted to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union, two exceptionally deserving and important charities, Johnny Depp has sent the first of multiple instalments of those monies to each charity in the name of Amber Heard, which when completed will honour the full amount of Ms Heard's pledge.

"Ms Heard's generosity in giving to these wonderful causes is deeply respected."

Depp, 53, and Heard, 30, split in May and resolved their acrimonious divorce earlier this month, just a day before a high-profile court hearing was due to take place in Los Angeles.

Depp vehemently denied claims he abused Heard after she said he had a "history of drug and alcohol abuse" and been "verbally and physically abusive" for the entirety of their four-year-relationship.