In the second part of her first post-trial interview, Amber Heard opened up to NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie on “Today” about her life after the verdict.
When asked if she’s worried about being sued again by Depp for defamation, Heard said, “I’m scared that no matter what I do, no matter what I say or how I say it, every step that I take will present another opportunity for this sort of silencing.”
Guthrie brought up Depp’s text message to Heard that she would suffer “total global humiliation,” and asked Heard if she thought that came true.
“I know he promised it,” she said. “I testified to this. I’m not a good victim, I get it. I’m not a likable victim. I’m not a perfect victim. But when I testified I asked the jury to just see me as human and hear his own words, which is a promise to do this. It feels as though he has.”
Guthrie asked why Heard wrote the 2018 Washington Post op-ed alluding to being the victim of past abuse two years after her divorce settlement. Even though it doesn’t mention Depp by name, it was the crux of the defamation trial.
“The op-ed wasn’t about my relationship with Johnny,” she said. “What the op-ed was about was me loaning my voice to a bigger cultural conversation that we were having at the time.”
When asked if she was hoping to “cancel” Depp with the op-ed, Heard doubled down, saying, “Of course not. It wasn’t about him.”
Guthrie then inquired about Heard’s upcoming plans: “I get to be a mom full-time, where I’m not having to juggle calls with lawyers.”
Asked about Johnny today, Heard said, “I love him. I loved him with all my heart. And I tried the best I could to make a deeply broken relationship work. I couldn’t. No bad feelings or ill will towards him at all. I know that might be hard to understand or it might be really easy to understand. If you’ve ever loved anyone it should be easy.”
Heard spoke to Guthrie on NBC’s “Today” show for the first interview following the conclusion of the highly publicized trial between her and Depp. During the interview, the two discussed the verdict of the case, which ended with both Heard and Depp receiving compensatory damages, albeit with Depp receiving significantly more.
In the first part of the interview, Heard denied lying about the alleged abuse she detailed during her testimony, saying, “I made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always told the truth.” She also discussed her belief that the social media coverage of the trial helped to influence its outcome.
“I think even the most well-intentioned juror… it would have been impossible to avoid this,” Heard said. “Every single day I passed three, four, sometimes six city blocks lined with people holding signs saying ‘Burn the Witch,’ ‘Death to Amber.’ After three and a half weeks, I took the stand and saw a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were vocal, energized.”
The trial between Depp and Heard saw the Virginia jury rule that both Heard and Depp were guilty of defamation toward each other. The jury ruled in favor of three counts of defamation brought by the plaintiff Depp and one count of defamation brought by Heard in her counterclaim. Depp received $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, with the punitive damages being reduced to $350,000, in accordance with the state’s statutory cap. Heard received $2 million in compensatory damages for her counterclaim.
The trial began when Depp, the plaintiff in the case, sued Heard for defamation regarding the 2018 Washington Post op-ed she published alluding to being the victim of past abuse. Although the op-ed did not directly mention the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, Depp claimed it damaged his reputation and ruined his career. A year prior to the op-ed’s publication, Heard and Depp divorced after two years of marriage, with Heard alleging that Depp had subjected her to emotional, physical and sexual abuse throughout their relationship.
In 2020, prior to the American trial, the High Court of London ruled against Depp in a separate defamation case spawned by Depp suing The Sun for writing about the abuse allegations. The U.K. court ruled that he assaulted Heard in 12 of 14 alleged incidents.
Since the conclusion of the Virginia trial, Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, has said her client plans to appeal the verdict.
The Guthrie interview is set to conclude on the Friday, June 17 episode of “Dateline NBC” at 8 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT.
Watch Wednesday’s full interview segment below:
Watch all of part two of @SavannahGuthrie's exclusive interview with Amber Heard, in which Heard discusses her future, fears about new defamation lawsuits and whether she still “has love” for Johnny Depp: pic.twitter.com/xr3EX9se6K
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 15, 2022
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