Amber Heard Breaks silence on defamation case against ex-husband Johnny Depp After the jury for the first time ruled – claiming that the ‘unfair’ ruling was the result of partisan ‘social media representation’ and accusing the actor of trying to influence the jury by putting ‘paid employees and rando’ on the stand Put it.
The 36-year-old spoke about the damaging verdict against him in a three-part interview with the TODAY show, which was pre-recorded Thursday and began airing Monday morning.
While sitting down with Savannah Guthrie — who interviewed Depp’s legal team on the show last week and whose husband actually consulted for her during the trial — Heard lashed out at the “hate and vitriol,” which she described throughout. Have encountered in trial and in trial. Condemning the ‘unfair’ judgment made against him, in the wake of the Jury’s decision.
Hurd, who flew to New York City on a private jet on Friday to do the interview, reiterated last week allegations made by her attorney that the jury had been swayed by social media, while also suggesting that they should be with Depp. Won by ‘Excellent’. Acting on the Stand’.
‘Even someone who’s sure I deserve all this hate and controversy, even if you think I’m lying, you still can’t look me in the eye that you think That has been a fair representation on social media,’ she said. ‘You can’t tell me you think it’s fair.’
Earlier this month, a jury ruled that Heard defamed her ex-husband by publishing an article in the Washington Post about being a sexual assault survivor. She was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, although the second payment was reduced by the judge to $350,000 in accordance with Virginia law. She was awarded a relatively meager $2 million in compensatory damages, meaning Depp, 59, walked away from the case with Heard owed $8.35 million.
Amber Heard has broken her silence on the Johnny Depp defamation lawsuit verdict, speaking for the first time since a jury ruled that she defamed her ex-husband — and ordered him to pay $10 million in damages
The 36-year-old actress sat down with TODAY show’s Savannah Guthrie to discuss the verdict, which she blasted as “unfair” by blaming partisan “social media representation”.
Hurd – whose legal team has said she plans to appeal the verdict – accused the jury of winning from her ex-husband’s “outstanding acting” and “beloved” public reputation, while suggesting that Depp Seduced the jury by keeping ‘paid employees’ and Randos’ on the stands to testify on their behalf during the six-week trial.
‘I’ll put it this way, how could they have made a decision, how could they not have come to that conclusion? [that I couldn’t be believed], he said. ’ He said in those seats and for more than three weeks without stopping, the relentless testimony of paid employees and at the end of the trial, Rando, as I say.
‘I don’t blame him, I don’t blame him, I really understand, he’s a beloved character and people think they know him. He is a superb actor.
‘Again, how could they after hearing three and a half weeks of testimony that I was an unreliable person and could not believe a word that came out of my mouth.’
During the six-week marathon trial in Fairfax, Virginia, which began on April 11 and ended on June 1, Depp called 38 witnesses, while Hurd’s team called 24.
Both Depp and Heard gave evidence for four days—including a forensic cross-examination with opposition lawyers—then both returned to the witness stand to testify for a second time.
The jury looked at dozens of texts, photos, videos, medical records and even pages written to each other from the former couple’s ‘love journal’.
The defamation case was so complex that the verdict sheet contained 42 questions that the jury had to answer before the verdict was delivered: 24 questions for Depp’s claims and 18 questions for Heard’s counterclaims.
The court heard clips of recordings that Depp and Heard had made during their arguments, some of their most intimate moments that could be imagined for the world years later in the most public setting.
Throughout the trial, social media was flooded with posts about the legal proceedings – most were shared in support of Depp under the hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp. As of June 13, the hashtag had garnered over 20.6 billion views on TikTok, while the #JusticeForAmberHeard tag had garnered a relatively low 92.4 million views.
Hurd suggested that the jury was impressed by her husband’s ‘outstanding acting’, while Depp (seen with his lawyer Camille Vasquez) ‘paid employees’ on the stand to testify for him and win over the jurors. And accused of keeping Rando’.
The interview marks the first time Heard has publicly addressed the verdict – which she blasted as a ‘shock to other women’ in a statement published minutes after she read the verdict in court.
But despite stressing that social media played an important role in the test outcome, Heard, whose interview was teased on the TODAY show on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, airs in full on NBC’s Dateline this Friday at 8 p.m. claimed that she is not taking any negative public opinion about her ‘personally’, emphasizing that she ‘doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her’ Is’.
She told Guthrie, “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me or what decisions you want to make about what happened at my wedding behind closed doors in the privacy of my home.” ‘I don’t think the average person should know those things, so I don’t take it personally.’
The interview marks the first time Heard has publicly addressed the verdict – which she blasted as a ‘shock to other women’ in a statement published minutes after the verdict was read out in court.
‘The despair I feel today is beyond words. I am saddened that the mountain of evidence was still not enough to withstand the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband,’ Hurd shared in a statement just minutes after the court’s ruling. where she was present for the verdict, while Depp said
‘I am even more disappointed at what this decision means to other women. This is a blow. It sets back a time when a woman who spoke and spoke could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It rejects the idea that violence against women should be taken seriously.
A day after the verdict was pronounced, Heard’s attorney, Ellen Charlson Breedhoft, revealed that her client was planning to appeal the verdict, insisting that she had “excellent grounds” for doing so, while Claiming that the actress is unable to pay $8.35 million. damages that he owes Depp.
During an appearance on the TODAY show, Breidhoft was asked if the Aquaman actress would be able to pay Depp’s dues after the jury upheld her claims that she lied by accusing her of abuse during their marriage, which But he replied: ‘No, not at all.’
The lawyer also echoed his client’s views on the verdict, calling it a ‘significant setback’ for the women.
‘It’s a terrible message. It’s a blow, a significant setback because that’s exactly what it means,’ Braidhoft said of the decision.
‘You won’t be believed until you take out your phone and make a video of you beating your spouse or your significant other.’
She also suggested that the jury in the case was influenced by public opinion – including social media posts that were shared in support of Depp – a claim that his legal team has since ‘completely Slogan as ‘wrong’.
To allow an appeal, Hurd would need to demonstrate that there were errors in the trial, or in the reading of the law by the presiding judge.
He must post the entire $10,350,000 bond, plus interest charges, during the appeals trial.
Depp originally sued Heard for $50 million, claiming he defamed her in 2018 with an op-ed excerpt published by The Washington Post in which he claimed to be a domestic abuse survivor.
Hurd then contested $100 million, claiming that Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman, made defamatory statements calling his claims “hoax.”
The actress’ appearance on the TODAY show comes less than a week after Guthrie, 50, sat down for an on-air chat with Depp’s legal team, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, who hit back