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A few years ago, announcing out of the blue that she was a mom was the least surprising headline concerning Amber Heard . Before the news cycle became enraptured by her 2022 legal showdown with ex-husband Johnny Depp , the Aquaman star shared in July 2021 that she had welcomed daughter Oonagh Paige Heard on April 8 via surrogate, the child's middle name a tribute to Heard's late mother . "Four years ago, I decided I wanted to have a child.
I wanted to do it on my own terms," Heard wrote on Instagram at the time. "I now appreciate how radical it is for us as women to think about one of the most fundamental parts of our destinies in this way. I hope we arrive at a point in which it's normalized to not want a ring in order to have a crib.
" And while she still abided by the truism that her private life "is none of anyone's business," she acknowledged "that the nature of my job compels me to take control of this." In that vein, her rep confirmed Dec. 5 that Heard was pregnant with her second child, stating, "Suffice to say that Amber is delighted both for herself and Oonagh Paige.
" So, while Heard posted to Instagram a year ago that she was having a "champagne kind of birthday," the 39-year-old enjoyed a sparkling cider kind of New Year's Eve. That remains her most recent Instagram post, though she offered a show of support for Blake Lively after the It Ends With Us star filed a civil complaint against costar-director Justin Baldoni alleging he helped orchestrate a public smear campaign against her after she raised concerns about his behavior on set. "Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying 'A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on,'" Heard told NBC News in a Dec.
23 statement. "I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.
” Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman told E! News, referring to Heard and Lively, "The only correlation between both individuals was that for decades every move they have made has been out there for everyone to see, widely filmed and documented for the public to make up their own minds—which they did, organically." Heard has every reason not to want to open her world up to further commentary now. But once upon a time she was more active on Instagram, where she still has 5.
1 million followers, sharing the occasional snippet from her new life as Oonagh's mother. "She’s the beginning of the rest of my life," Heard wrote in capping off her birth announcement on July 1, 2021. Five days later, she posted a video of herself sampling a celery juice—"You can take the gal out of LA, but you can’t take LA out of the gal," the caption read—while holding her bouncing 3-month-old.
(Heard didn't tag her location but at the time she had a home in Yucca Valley, about 120 miles east of Los Angeles.) "I’m just the mom and the dad. She's the boss," Heard captioned a July 16 snap in which Oonagh could be mistaken for being deeply invested in whatever was on her mom's laptop screen.
"Multitasking mama," she posted Sept. 25 alongside a shot of herself clad in workout wear, a baby tucked in one arm while she held a dumbbell in her other hand. A February 2022 snap of mother and daughter taking in a desert view was captioned, "Me and my co-pilot.
" And when Oonagh turned 1, Heard called the previous 12 months "the greatest year." The next few months of 2022 were, to put it mildly, lesser , as the dueling defamation claims she and Depp had aimed at each other went to trial in Virginia and turned into must-see TV . The oft-bizarre proceedings ended June 1, 2022, with Heard being found liable for defaming Depp in a 2018 Washington Post op-Ed that referred to herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse.
" The article didn't name him but his lawyers successfully argued that she was pointedly referencing the actor in violation of their divorce settlement agreement not to publicly disparage each other. (Depp repeatedly denied abusing Heard.) Heard was also, however, awarded $2 million in compensatory damages from her ex—whom she married in February 2015 and filed to divorce 15 months later—in her counterclaim alleging she was the target of an "ongoing harassment and online smear campaign" from Depp's corner.
They both appealed the respective judgments and ultimately settled in December 2022 , Heard agreeing to pay Depp $1 million—which he said he'd donate to charity —while he no longer had to pay her anything. So when it was all over and seemingly everything that could be said about Heard in the court of public opinion had been aired, she was looking forward to focusing on her family. "I get to be a mom full time," Heard told NBC News ' Savannah Guthrie in her first post-trial interview, "where I'm not having to juggle calls with lawyers.
" As for what she might tell Oonagh one day about what unfolded in that courtroom, "I think no matter what, it will mean something," Heard said. "I did the right thing. I did everything I could to stand up for myself and the truth.
” And then she resumed the rest of her life, heading to Italy to film the thriller In the Fire in the summer of 2022. The movie's June 23, 2023, premiere at the Taormina Film Festival marked Heard's first red carpet appearance in almost two years. “I was relieved to see how they shouted for her," her costar Luca Calvani told Variety afterward.
"After all the stuff being yelled online at this beautiful human being." Admittedly, "The trial was looming over us," the actor said. "We felt the gravity of this huge media machine building against all of us, and the camaraderie of the shoot felt like a good distraction.
" Director Conor Allyn said that, once Heard arrived on set, "she was a force to be reckoned with," and he was rooting for her to have a "mega-comeback." But Heard avoided the December 2023 premiere of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom after shutting down speculation that she'd been cut from the movie—which was shot in 2021—since the trial, calling the rumor mill "inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane." She did , however, testify during the trial that her role as the titular Marvel hero's similarly powered love interest Mera was pared down in the wake of the alleged smearing from Depp's corner that she sued over.
"I fought really hard to stay in the movie," she said on the stand. "They didn't want to include me in the film." (Director James Wan told Entertainment Weekly the plan was always to have less Mera and more bromance between Aquaman and his half-brother Orm in the sequel.
) In January 2024, she thanked her fans for the "overwhelming support and love" for her part in the movie, which didn't make $1.2 billion like the original but took in $439 million worldwide. She shared a throwback pic of herself, sporting Mera's garnet-red hair, giving Oonagh a bottle during filming.
After the trial, though, Heard had decided that a change of scenery was in order, and in 2023 she moved to Madrid with Oonagh. "I love Spain so much," she said in Spanish, as seen in a no-longer-live TikTok posted in late May 2023, per People . Asked if she planned on staying, she replied, "I hope so.
Yes, I love living here." As for what she was going to do next, Heard said, "I move on. That's life.
" Months later, she was thriving there, according to her In the Fire director. "She's living her best life in Spain with her daughter," Allyn told People in October 2023, "and just finding happiness in that way." And having already said when Oonagh was born that she found no need for a conventional marital set-up to have children, her plan to double her happiness was all her own.
Read on to see why more stars left Hollywood, whether physically or in spirit, under their own steam: Ellen DeGeneres The Ellen DeGeneres Show host's eponymous talk show ended in 2022 after a 19-season run amid allegations of a toxic work environment that prompted an internal investigation, multiple firings of executives and public ire. Ellen returned to the spotlight for her final standup special For Your Approval , which released on Netflix in September 2024. During the lead-up to that special, she revealed she would be leaving Hollywood altogether.
"This is the last time you’re going to see me," she told a crowd during her Ellen’s Last Stand...
Up tour, per SFGate . “After my Netflix special, I’m done." Ellen and her wife Portia de Rossi have since moved to England, reportedly in response to Donald Trump ’s 2024 election win, according to multiple outlets (the couple have not publicly commented on their reason for their move).
Tyra Banks One of the reasons the America's Next Top Model host moved to Australia? To stay on top of her ice cream brand. "So I have this ice cream company, SMiZE and Dream," Tyra explained on an April 2025 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends . “But we've been more what we call B2B, like on an airplane and on cruises.
I’ve been going to Australia a lot because we were making a lot of our ice cream there in a big facility doing our recipes. And I just fell in love with it every time I went back and went back." Not only was she happy there, but she also knew it was a good market for her business.
"The three countries that eat the most ice cream?" she continued. "America, New Zealand and Australia." So, the supermodel moved to Australia with her son York (his dad is her ex Erik Asla ) and boyfriend Louis Bélanger-Martin , noting, "Australia has been a dream come true for me and my family.
" Eva Longoria While it's been a minute since the Desperate Housewives star lived on Wisteria Lane, she's since found a new address IRL. "I had my whole adult life here," Eva told Marie Claire in November 2024 about leaving Los Angeles. "But even before [the pandemic], it was changing.
The vibe was different. And then Covid happened, and it pushed it over the edge. Whether it’s the homelessness or the taxes, not that I want to s--t on California—it just feels like this chapter in my life is done now.
" So for the past few years, the actress, her husband José Bastón and their son Santiago have split their time between Mexico and Spain. "I’m privileged," she continued. "I get to escape and go somewhere.
Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them." However, Eva noted her move wasn't because of President Trump's re-election.
"I didn't leave because of the political environment," the Flamin' Hot director said on The View: Behind the Table podcast in November 2024. "I left because my work took me there since Land of Women— shooting six months in Catalonia, then four months in Mexico for Searching for Mexico , then back to Spain. Now I've been there for years.
So I just don't like that it's politicized." Since moving, Eva has continued to stay busy, with recent projects including her roles in Only Murders in the Building and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip . Richard Gere The actor has gone from Chicago to Spain .
"My wife is Spanish, and she gave me about seven years here," Richard said of Galicia native Alejandra Silva on a November 2024 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . "And so we're going to spend some years in Madrid." He also expressed his excitement over what the move would give the couple's young sons Alexander and James .
"Our kids are bilingual," Richard, who also has an adult son Homer with ex Carey Lowell , added, "so they're going to flourish there." Indeed, it seems the whole family has . "The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum," The Agency: Central Intelligence star told Elle España in January 2025.
"We are happier than ever." Christina Milian From AM to PM, the singer is living in Paris "My husband is French, and we've been together for over seven or eight years," Christina, who is married to singer Matt Pokora , said on a November 2024 episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show . "And for the last three or four years we were commuting back and forth every six months.
" However, they decided to officially say au revoir to the U.S. so her kids—who include daughter Violet from her former marriage with The-Dream and sons Isaiah and Kenna from her union with Matt—could study in France.
"They're all going to school in Paris," she continued. "I was like, 'What better than an opportunity than that?" And life for the family appears to be magnifique. "My kids are happy there," the Dexter: Original Sin actress told E! in December 2024 .
"They know French. We go to the park. I have an active lifestyle that's really nice during the day.
Then at night time, I do my work because I work hours ahead. It's a nice, healthy balance for me." Lindsay Lohan Lindsay is tired of rumors starting about why she left Los Angeles.
So, she set the record straight while looking back at her hectic work schedule and partying in the aughts. "I feel like some of [my work] got overshadowed by paparazzi and all that kind of stuff when I was younger, and that’s kind of annoying," The Parent Trap alum told Bustle in March 2024. "I wish that part didn’t happen.
I feel like that kind of took on a life of its own. So that’s why I wanted to disappear. I was like, 'Unless there’s no story here, they’re not going to focus on just my work.
'" Lindsay moved abroad—first to London then to Dubai (also opening beach clubs in Greece). However, there was another reason she sought a life away from the spotlight. "I was like, 'What if I never fall in love? What if this never happens?'" the Mean Girls star added.
"And it took me just taking time for me for all those doors to open and the ‘yeses’ to come—the things I wanted to say 'yes' to." Of course, Lindsay did find love with Bader Shammas , the pair marrying in 2022 and welcoming son Luai the following year. They still live in Dubai, but the Freaky Friday actress hasn't left the Hollywood industry completely, starring in movies like Our Little Secret , Irish Wish and Freakier Friday .
Josh Hartnett For Josh, the decision to leave Hollywood came after some self-reflection. "Hollywood is more than a place; it's like a state of mind," the Black Mirror actor told People in July 2024. "If you're around people who are constantly talking about the movie business, your life is going to be pretty much one note.
And I've never wanted that." Instead, he wanted more. "I've always wanted to be around .
.. people generally doing lots of other things that would bring my mind off of my work and force me to grow in different directions," Josh added.
"To me, that's the spice of life." So, the Black Hawk Down alum, his wife Tamsin Egerton and their four kids moved to England's Hampshire countryside. "Time passes quickly," he told The Guardian in July 2024.
"With four children, you have so much to do. In a way, less is happening. But more of the important stuff is happening.
" Still, Josh has stayed plenty busy and landed roles in Verity , Fight or Flight and Trap . Jesse Eisenberg If you haven't checked your social network lately, then you might not know that Jesse doesn't live in L.A.
"I’ve lived in Indiana for the last decade on-and-off," the A Real Pain star told CBS News Sunday Morning in February 2025. "That’s where I feel the most comfortable. I’m not somebody who wants to surround myself in an industry that just feels kind of unstable to me.
" And while he's an Oscar nominee, he lives a pretty normal life with his wife Anna Strout and son Banner . "I'm not on social media, and I'm not a person who's on the phone with industry people all the time," Jesse also shared. "So, my life feels pretty separate.
My wife is a teacher. My kid doesn't really even watch movies. So, I'm not like knee-deep in the world of constantly trying to assess my own status in an industry.
" Eliza Dushku Palandjian After appearing in such projects as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 2000's Bring It On , Eliza revealed in September 2024 that she had become certified in psychedelic-assisted therapy and is furthering her studies as a mental health professional. "I had the means to shift directions and choose a course in my life that focused on healing myself so that I could help heal others," she told Boston Magazine . "I would be remiss if I didn’t now share the transformation and the peace and the passion that I have.
This is just absolutely so clearly my real calling, my real purpose." Rosie O'Donnell The Flintstones star revealed that she moved to Ireland in January 2025 with her youngest child Clay and was in the process of getting her Irish citizenship as her grandparents are from the European country. But while Rosie cited recent political developments as her reason for leaving, she didn’t rule out an eventual return home.
"I miss my other kids," she said in a video on TikTok. "I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home and I'm trying to find a home here in in this beautiful country.
And when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that's when we will consider coming back." Evangeline Lilly The Ant-Man and the Wasp star announced she's taking an indefinite hiatus from acting after 20 years in the industry. "I am so filled with joy and contentment today as I live out my vision," Evangeline wrote on Instagram in June 2024.
"I feel so grateful for my blessings. Stepping away from what seems like the obvious choice (wealth and fame) can feel scary at times, but stepping into your dharma replaces the fear with fulfillment." But she isn't necessarily shutting the door, either, adding, "I might return to Hollywood one day, but, for now, this is where I belong.
" Ian Somerhalder The Vampire Diaries alum hasn't sunk his teeth into a new role since Netflix's 2019 series V-Wars . Instead, he has dug a little deeper into a passion project, namely his mission to combat climate change by improving the world's soil. "I stepped away from acting a little over four years ago to raise my kids, build my companies and get these films launched," Ian, who shares two children with wife Nikki Reed , told E! News in November 2023 of launching the 2020 documentary Kiss the Ground and its follow up Common Ground , each detailing the need for regenerative farming.
When he looks years down the road, the actor continued, "I will be a rancher and building legacy brands, whether it's my bourbon or my health and wellness company, and the regenerative agriculture and healthy soil management practices that I live by and our family lives by. That's where my life was going. So when people say 'Why do you care?' That's why I care.
Because that's who I am, that's what I'm going to become." On a February 2021 episode of her podcast Empty Inside , the iCarly alum told guest Anna Faris that she decided to stop acting a few years back and is now focused on opportunities in writing and directing, in addition to hosting the podcast. "My experience with acting is, I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past," revealed Jennette, who detailed her experience in her 2022 memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died .
"I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed.
My friends at 15, they're not like, 'Oh, cool, you're on this Nickelodeon show.' It was embarrassing." Though she hasn't totally written off a second act.
"I do feel like only through writing the book have I gotten to a place where I think there might be a way of exploring acting that doesn't carry that baggage that I carried with me for so long," she told E! News in October 2022. "Maybe if I write something for myself. I think that'd really be maybe one of the only ways I could kind of try exploring it again.
" This felt like something of a no-brainer. If we had a shot to marry Prince Harry , dedicate our life to the philanthropic causes that matter most to us and gain access to the Queen's impressive collection of tiaras, bidding ta-ta to Tinseltown would feel like an okay sacrifice. Following the path Grace Kelly took from Hollywood to the Palace of Monaco, Meghan left behind her home in Toronto—and her breakout role on Suits —for a life in The Firm.
Though, now that she and Harry have shed their senior roles and live in Montecito, Calif., she's edging back into the business thanks to business moves like their multi-year production deal with Netflix . The Duchess of Sussex released her 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan as well as her 2025 lifestyle show With Love, Meghan on the streaming service.
She's also launched podcasts and her brand As Ever. Cameron Diaz Having made upwards of 40 movies since her debut in 1994's The Mask , the actress was long overdue for a break when filming wrapped on 2014's Annie . "I just decided that I wanted different things out of my life," she explained to pal Gwyneth Paltrow of her ultimate act of self-care.
"I had gone so hard for so long, working, making films and it's such a grind. When you're making a movie—it's a perfect excuse—they own you. You're there for 12 hours a day for months on end and you have no time for anything else.
" And there was plenty more she'd like to explore, from writing (she followed up her 2013 New York Times best-seller The Body Book with 2016's The Longevity Book ) to starting a family with husband Benji Madden . But while Cameron confessed to InStyle in 2019, "I don't miss performing. Right now I'm looking at the landscape of wellness and all that," apparently she could be swayed into making at least one encore.
"We just begged and pleased on my knees, like, 'Just give the people one more again,'" Jamie Foxx told E! News of getting Cameron to sign on for the 2025 Netflix film Back in Action . "We love her, we've been waiting on her and this is just gonna be fantastic." Terrence Howard The actor insisted there'd be no encore after he finished his five-year run on Empire .
When Extra asked Terrence about his future ahead of the musical drama series' sixth and final season in 2019, he responded, "Oh, I'm done with acting. I'm done pretending." And though he returned to set for a handful of projects, the Oscar nominee again announced his plans to quit acting while promoting his Peacock series The Best Man: The Final Chapters in 2022.
"I've gotten to the point where now I've given the very best that I have as an actor," he told ET . "Now I'm enjoying watching other new talent come around, and I don't want to do an impersonation of myself." Despite these comments, though, Howard has since appeared in a few more shows and movies, including the TV series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist and Netflix film Shirley , with multiple projects lined up in the future.
Once his time as King Joffrey came to a sudden, purple-faced end in 2014, the then-21-year-old told EW he was getting out of the game. "I've been acting since age 8," the Game of Thrones star explained of his decision. "I just stopped enjoying it as much as I used to.
" No longer a child star, a bit of the magic had worn off. "Now there's the prospect of doing it for a living, whereas up until now it was always something I did for recreation with my friends, or in the summer for some fun," Jack continued. "I enjoyed it.
When you make a living from something, it changes your relationship with it. It's not like I hate it, it's just not what I want to do." But after a six-year break, he was ready to resume his reign , joining the cast of BBC's series Out of Her Mind in 2020.
Since then, Jack has also appeared in movies like Rebecca's Boyfriend and In the Land of Saints and Sinners as well as TV shows like Safe Harbor and The Famous Five . Phoebe Cates When Fast Times at Ridgemont High 's dream girl ( Jennifer Aniston took on her part in September 2020's virtual table read ) wed fellow actor Kevin Kline in 1989, they "agreed to alternate so that we're never working at the same time," he told Playboy of their plan to care for son Owen and daughter Greta (a singer who now goes by the stage name Frankie Cosmos ). However, he continued, "whenever it's been her slot to work, Phoebe has chosen to stay with the children.
" Though she made a cameo in pal Jennifer Jason Leigh 's 2001 indie The Anniversary Party , Cates devotes most of her time to operating her New York City boutique Blue Tree . At the height of his Ghostbusters and Honey, I ..
. fame, the '80s star stepped away from filmmaking not long after his wife passed away from breast cancer in 1991 to focus on raising his kids Rachel and Mitchell. Though Rick hasn't had a live-action movie role since 1997, even passing on a cameo in Paul Feig 's 2016 Ghostbusters remake, he's remained a treasured cultural icon, as evidenced by the outrage over reports that he'd been assaulted while walking in New York City in 2020.
Thankfully there's good news for fans: He'll make his triumphant return alongside Josh Gad in the forthcoming Disney reboot Shrunk . Once she wed fashion designer Adam Kimmel in 2010, the Never Been Kissed standout hinted that she was maybe kinda done with movies. "Ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people, and I don't want to do that," she explained to Vogue .
"It's such a strange fire to play with, and our relationship is surely strong enough to handle it, but if you're going to walk through fire, there has to be something incredible on the other side." Her decision was solidified after son Martin joined older sister Louisanna in 2014. "I don't do movie stuff anymore.
I am totally an outsider! I ...
am just a mom and an outsider," she noted to Us Weekly at a 2016 event, explaining that she helps Kimmel with his business and paints on the side. "I am just focused on my kids. I think that's mainly why I stopped.
" Portia de Rossi She'd done Ally McBeal . And Nip/Tuck . Then Arrested Development and finally Scandal when the Aussie realized that maybe she was ready to turn the dial .
"I was approaching 45 and I just kind of...
was wondering is there something that I could tackle now that I've never done before that would be really challenging and different," she explained on wife Ellen DeGeneres ' eponymous talk show in 2018. "I kind of knew what acting would look like for me for the next 10, 20 years, so I decided to quit and start a business." Her consumer-art company, General Public , already a work in progress, she had just one piece to finish.
"I called Mitch Hurwitz , who's the creator of Arrested Development and I said, 'If there is a season 5, I won't be doing it because I quit acting. And he seemed really understanding and he totally got it. We had a great conversation, and then he wrote me into five episodes.
" To be fair, once you've won three Academy Awards, what's left to accomplish? Shortly after receiving his sixth Oscar nod for his final film, 2017's Phantom Thread , the thespian had his rep issue a statement informing fans that he "will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject.
" But just when Daniel thought he was out, his son pulled him back in. In October 2024, production company Focus Features announced the Oscar winner would star in Anemone , the film he wrote alongside son Ronan Day-Lewis (who will also direct). Bridgit Mendler The Good Luck Charlie alum took a step back from the spotlight in 2018 when she began pursuing a master's degree from MIT, later earning a PhD from the institution.
She also enrolled in Harvard Law School. And as if that weren't enough, Bridgit launched her own startup Northwood Space, which aims to build ground satellite stations to help send and receive data from space, becoming CEO of the brand in February 2023 . ( Originally published Dec.
5, 2024, at 2:57 p.m. PT ).
