Amber Heard to appear in first TV interview since Johnny Depp trial verdict
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Amber Heard will sit down for her first full-length televised interview since she lost the multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
On 1 June, Pirates actor Depp emerged victorious in his $50m defamation case against Heard after three days of deliberations by a jury, which also handed Heard a partial win in her countersuit.
Depp sued Heard for $50m for implying he abused her in the op-ed, titled: “I spoke up against sexual violence –and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
Although she didn’t name him, the 58-year-old Hollywood star claimed Heard’s article impacted his ability to work. Meanwhile, Heard pursued a $100m counterclaim.
During the forthcoming interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, which was recorded on 9 June, Heard said she doesn’t “blame the jury” for the verdict.
Addressing the “meme-ification” of the trial and the near-constant barrage of social media attacks against her, she added: “I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage, behind closed doors. I don’t presume the average person should know those things. And so I don’t take it personally.
“But 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 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.”
She also referred to her ex-husband as “a fantastic actor” and said she understood why people supported him.
“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,” a spokesperson for Heard said.
“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.”
The interview was reportedly filmed amid tight security and shrouded in secrecy. Deadline also reported that the interview was not filmed at the usual location, or at NBC’s 30 Rock HQ, to ensure privacy.
The jury awarded Depp $10m in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2m compensatory damages. After the verdict was announced, Depp thanked the jury for giving him his life back.
In a statement at the time, Heard expressed “disappointment beyond words”, claiming the verdict was a “setback” for women. She has decided to appeal the verdict and, according to her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft, is “unable to pay” the damages.
The special is scheduled to air on Tuesday (June 14) and Wednesday (15 June) on NBC’s TODAY before the full interview will be released on Friday (17 June) on Dateline NBC at 8pm ET/ 7 pmCT.
