Amber Heard says she understands why a jury ruled against her in ex-husband Johnny Depp’s defamation trial – she sat and listened to the same testimony they did, and cannot “blame” them for their conclusion.
“How could they not come to that conclusion?” Heard told Savannah Guthrie of Today for an exclusive interview airing Tuesday and Wednesday on NBC (watch the video preview clip below).
“They had sat in those seats and heard over three weeks of no stop relentless testimony from paid employees,” she continued. “I don’t blame them, I actually understand. He’s a beloved character. People feel that they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”
Heard seemed to believe what her attorneys said after the verdict: that social media, heavily tilted in Depp’s favor across platforms, somehow influenced a jury that was instructed daily not to look at any of it.
“I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage, behind closed doors. 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’m 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.”
In the portion shared by NBC, Heard is careful not to re-litigate her abuse claims in the media spotlight – the thing that got her into court in the first place. But despite her ordeal, Heard says she doesn’t begrudge anyone their opinion.
“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, in my marriage, behind closed doors,” Heard said. “I don’t presume the average person should know these things. And so I don’t take it personally.”
Depp had sued Heard for defamation, saying a 2018 Washington Post op-ed falsely claimed he was an abuser. The Virginia civil jury last week awarded him $15 million, which was shaved down to $10.4 million by state law; Heard won a $2 million award in her counterclaim.
