Amber Heard has broken her silence following Johnny Depp’s win in their high-profile libel trial, saying she does not blame the jury for not believing her and that she did not have “fair representation” thanks to social media.
The actress spoke out in her first on-camera interview following the jury’s verdict – which found in Depp‘s favour – saying she was portrayed as a “non-credible person” during the high profile six-week hearing in Fairfax, Virginia.
In a statement sent to Sky News, a spokesperson for Heard said she decided to do the interview after her ex-husband and his lawyers “blanketed” the media following the verdict and to “express her thoughts and feelings, much of which she was not allowed to do on the witness stand”.
The actress sat down with journalist Savannah Guthrie from NBC News, which released a preview clip from the “wide-ranging” interview on Monday ahead of the full piece being aired in two parts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Heard, 36, criticised the role social media played in the case and detailed what she described as “hate and vitriol” targeted at her online.
“I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgements you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home and my marriage behind closed doors,” she said. “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 am 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.”
Asked about her feelings about the jury’s decision, that jurors “did not believe” her and “thought you were lying”, Heard responded: “I don’t blame them. I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”
When Guthrie put it to her that the jury’s job is “to not be dazzled by that… to look at the facts and the evidence”, Heard replied: “Again, how could they? After listening to three-and-a-half weeks of testimony about how I was a non-credible person. Not to believe a word that came out of my mouth.”
After six weeks of testimony, the court case came to an end on 1 June, with the jury finding that a 2018 article Heard wrote for the Washington Post, about her alleged experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, was defamatory towards Depp.
The actor was awarded $10.35m (£8.2m) in damages.
Heard won on one count of her counter-suit, successfully arguing that one of Depp’s attorneys defamed her by claiming her allegations were “an abuse hoax” aimed at capitalising on the #MeToo movement.
The jury awarded her $2m (£1.5m) in damages.
After appearing in court for all the evidence, Depp was not there for the verdict, instead touring the UK with musician Jeff Beck.
His lawyers also appeared on the Today show and Good Morning America in the US following the verdict.
As the preview clip to Heard’s interview was released, a spokesperson for the actress said in a statement sent to Sky News: “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.
“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.”
Elaine Bredehoft, one of Heard’s lawyers, has said she plans to appeal the verdict.