On Wednesday, Today aired the second part of an exclusive interview with actress Amber Heard, her first TV show after losing an explosive defamation suit against her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp. Among other revelations, the 36-year-old woman claimed she still “loved” Depp and denied wanting to “cancel” him in her opinion piece at the center of the case.
During the Virginia trial, which ended June 1, a jury ruled that Heard defamed Depp when The Washington Post published a 2018 opinion piece under his name describing him as a victim of abuse. domestic. Depp received $ 15 million in damages, but will only receive $ 10.35 million due to a state limit on punitive damages. The jury also awarded Heard $ 2 million in compensatory damages after finding that she was defamed by Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman, after he accused Heard of framing Depp in a “deception.”
Despite winning this particular reprimand, as well as a 2020 trial in the UK that determined Depp had abused Heard on 12 of 14 occasions, Heard has been largely portrayed as a liar in the public eye by the legion of fans obsessively devoted to Depp on social media and his Hollywood. colleagues since she first alleged abuse in 2016. Similarly, Guthrie appeared to be skeptical of the Aquaman star throughout her one-on-one, pressuring her on recordings and other evidence presented by the Depp’s team while conveniently ignoring much of the recordings and other evidence on offer. by Heard. (The UK trial admitted considerably more evidence than the Virginia trial, which may help explain the different outcome.)
In the first half of Monday’s interview, the news presenter asked the actress if she had instigated physical violence against Depp, asked her about the recordings Heard claims were taken out of context, and reported that the First Amendment did not protect “lies.” At the end of the interview, Guthrie seemed equally cynical and dissatisfied with Heard’s answers, and told the actress that her “allusion” to Depp in her opinion piece was “unmistakable.” . He also asked Heard if he had warned TMZ to take pictures of him with a bruise when he filed a restraining order against Depp in 2016. For the most part, his interrogation did not go beyond information that was not had raised during the trial. and discussed by Heard, and had no insight into the abuse.
It is not the first time that a TV presenter has been insensitive to the issue of domestic abuse or does not know how survivors adapt to situations of violence with their partners. (Watch Barbara Walters’ interview with Rihanna after her incident with Chris Brown or Gayle King’s interview with FKA Twigs about her allegations against Shia LaBeouf). However, viewers and reporters are surprised that Guthrie was able to interview Heard in the first place.
Earlier this week, Guthrie revealed that her husband, Michael Feldman, worked as an adviser to Depp’s legal team during the defamation trial just before launching into an interview with Depp’s lawyers, Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew. The interview went viral on Twitter and received an immediate reaction from users claiming a conflict of interest.
“The previous week, Guthrie revealed that her husband, Michael Feldman, worked as an adviser to Depp’s legal team during the defamation trial just before launching into an interview with Depp’s lawyers, Camille Vasquez. and Benjamin Chew “.
“If I were Amber Heard’s publicist or public relations person, I probably wouldn’t grant my client’s first major interview with someone who revealed a conflict of interest,” one Twitter user wrote.
“If Guthrie is to continue doing these interviews, TODAY has to make it much clearer that Guthrie, through her husband’s consulting work, was personally enriched by the Depp PR team,” another posted. “The blatant conflict of interest is so disrespectful to Mrs Heard.”
Since then, journalism experts have considered the controversy in a Business Insider report, calling Guthrie’s decision to interview Depp’s lawyers “a little crazy” and highlighting a “financial involvement” as it could be done. serve Feldman again when Heard intends to appeal. the jury’s verdict.
Although neither Heard nor his representatives have yet discussed the controversy, sources in the same article say that Heard and his team were aware of Guthrie’s connection to the case and were willing to continue with the interview, which will conclude with one hour long. The date special is broadcast on Friday.
While it is difficult to imagine the thought process behind the organization of this interview and its use in a later editorial, it is possible that Heard, who has been publicly compassionate with the jury and Depp supporters, wanted to show the audience that they could engage in a polite conversation with someone closely related to their detractors. Still, it seems strange and extremely unadvisable for Heartd’s team to allow his client to undergo Guthrie’s poor and impartial interrogation for his first major television appearance after the trial, given the number of journalists presumably ‘are dying to get an exclusive with the actress.
Regardless of the intent or knowledge Heard and his team received prior to the interview, the fact that Heard spent most of his time defending himself against the widely disclosed claims again is another tragedy for the actress, whose status when it comes to the upcoming sequel to Aquaman is still up in the air. In short, the saddest part of the fiasco is how it was completely avoidable.