One of Amber Heard’s lawyers blamed social media haters and the “unequal” media coverage of Wednesday’s grand verdict after the jury sided mainly with Johnny Depp in defamation trial of the former -pair.
“She was demonized,” lawyer Elaine Bredehoft told NBC’s TODAY in her first interview since the verdict. “It was horrible.”
Bredehoft also said there is no way Heard can pay the net $ 8.35 million he now owes Depp for damages.
“Absolutely not,” Bredehoft said.
The jury sided with Depp in all his defamation lawsuits in court and ordered Heard to pay him $ 15 million, although the judge reduced them to $ 10.35 million. The jury also accepted one of Heard’s three defamation charges against Depp and awarded him $ 2 million in damages.
According to Bredehoft, the first thing Heard said after the verdict was announced was, “I’m sorry for all those women out there. This is a setback for all the women in and out of the courtroom.”
“She feels the burden of that,” Bredehoft added.
Bredehoft accused Depp’s team of trying to “demonize Amber” while cracking down on what she says was evidence of 12 cases of domestic violence.
“We had a lot of evidence that was deleted in this case that was the case in the UK,” Bredehoft shared.
A previous trial in the UK was in favor of Heard rather than Depp, and Bredehoft alleges that it was because that trial included more evidence from Heard.
Heard’s lawyer also blamed media coverage and the conversation on social media of the jury’s verdict. Much of this conversation included pro-Depp and anti-Heard online videos and memes.
“They go home every night, they have families, the families are on social media,” Bredehoft said. “We had a 10-day break in the middle because of the court conference. There’s no way they couldn’t be influenced.”
Bredehoft also said she was upset by the cameras in the courtroom, which turned the case into an internationally televised trial while inspiring countless TikTok videos and other reaction clips.
“It’s like the Roman Colosseum as they see this whole case,” he said. “He turned it into a zoo.”
Bredehoft says Heard wants to appeal the decision and has “excellent reasons for it.”