Amber Heard has slammed social media trolls over the “hate” she received during her legal battle with Johnny Depp and insisted she “doesn’t blame” the jury for deciding against her.
The 36-year-old ‘Aquaman’ star was found by a jury in Fairfax, Virginia, to have defamed her ex-husband in an article in which she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse and Depp was awarded $15 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
Heard has now given her first TV interview since the trial and told TV presenter Savannah Guthrie she was astounded by the “vitriol” on social media, saying: “I don’t care what one thinks about me …
“What judgements you 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 so I don’t take it personally.”
Heard went on: “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.”
Host Savannah then asked Heard about the jury’s decision, pointing out they listened to her evidence and concluded she must have been lying.
Heard then responded: “How could they not come to that conclusion? They had sat in those seats for three weeks and heard testimony from paid employees and towards the end of the trial randos (random people) …
“I don’t blame them (the jury) I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”
The interview airs on America’s NBC News on Tuesday and on the ‘Today’ show on Wednesday. An hour-long special will be broadcast on Friday on ‘Dateline’.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million for defamation following the publication of a 2018 piece in The Washington Post in which she alleged she was a victim of domestic abuse but had not named him specifically. The jury found the actress had acted with “malice” and awarded Depp $15 million in damages. Heard had countersued her ex for $100 million and the jury awarded her $2 million in punitive damages.
