Amber Heard says she doesn’t blame the jury that awarded Johnny Depp more than $ 10 million ($ 14.4 million) after a six-week defamation trial in his first post-verdict interview.
Key points:
- Heard was from Mr. Depp on an opinion piece he wrote in December 2018
- Ms Heard said the jury had heard weeks of testimony from Depp’s “salaried employees”.
- She said she had been treated unfairly on social media
“I don’t blame them,” the actress told US Today co-host Savannah Guthrie in an interview clip aired Monday on NBC.
“I really understand him. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”
Today he plans to broadcast more of his interview with Ms. Heard on Tuesday and Wednesday (local time).
The interview aired almost two weeks after the verdict, which also saw Ms Heard award $ 2 million for her claim that one of Depp’s lawyers defamed her.
Depp sued Heard over defamation in Virginia for an opinion piece he wrote in December 2018 in The Washington Post in which he described himself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
His lawyers said he was defamed for the article even though he never mentioned his name.
The verdicts ended a televised trial that Depp hoped would help restore his reputation, although it turned into a show that offered a window into a volatile marriage, and both actors emerged with unclear prospects for their careers.
‘They didn’t believe you’
Depp has not conducted a formal interview on the outcome of the trial. (AP: Steve Helber)
Guthrie put pressure on Ms. Heard on her credibility and what it meant to jurors in videos posted Monday.
“There’s no polite way to say it. The jury looked at the evidence you presented, they heard your testimony and they didn’t believe you,” Guthrie said.
“They thought you were lying.”
Heard replied, “How could they not come to this conclusion?
“They had sat in those seats and heard more than three weeks of relentless and relentless testimony from salaried employees” and witnesses Depp described as random people, he said.
Depp, who has not yet been formally interviewed about the case, said the verdict “brought my life back”.
Ms. Heard said in a statement after the verdict that she had a broken heart, and her lawyer said in a separate interview today that her client was “demonized” on social media and that she planned to appeal against the sentence.
Mrs. Heard told Guthrie, “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my home, in my marriage, behind closed doors.”
“I don’t suppose the average person needs to know these things, so I don’t take it personally,” he said.
“You still can’t look me in the eye and tell me you think there has been fair representation on social media. You can’t tell me you think this has been fair.”
ABC / AP