Speaking her truth. If you’re asking her, Amber Heard’s jury isn’t to blame for the decision in Johnny Depp’s defamation trial. In the Aquaman actress’ first post-trial interview with Today’s Savannah Guthrie, which will be released on June 18, 2022 on Dateline, Heard talks about how she felt during the trial and its overall fairness.
In a preview clip of the interview, Heard says, “I don’t care what one thinks about me, or what judgment you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home in my marriage, behind closed doors,” Heard said. “I don’t presume the average person should know these things, so I don’t take it personally.” Heard continues, “Even somebody who is sure I’m deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t tell me — look me in the eye and tell me — that you think on social media there’s been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.”
When Guthrie told her that the jury believed that she lied in her testimonies, Heard says, “They had sat in those seats and heard over three weeks of nonstop relentless testimony from paid employees and, towards the end of the trial, randos — as I say,” When asked if she blamed the jury for the verdict, she responded, “I don’t blame them, I actually understand. [Johnny]’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”
Following the preview of Heard’s interview, a spokesperson for the actress provided the following statement to StyleCaster via email: “Johnny Depp’s legal team blanketed the media for days after the verdict with numerous statements and interviews on television, and Depp himself did the same on social media. Ms. Heard simply intended to respond to what they aggressively did last week; she did so by expressing her thoughts and feelings, much of which she was not allowed to do on the witness stand.”
Depp won the defamation trial after he sued Heard for $50 million. Amber wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in 2018 about her experiences with domestic abuse. Though no names were mentioned, many people speculated it to be about her marriage to Depp. Depp claimed that the op-ed cost him his acting jobs. Depp was awarded $15 million in damages, but Heard will have to pay $10.35 million due to a Virginia law cap on punitive damages. Heard was also awarded $2 million after she won one count of her countersuit against Johnny.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233) for confidential support.