Amber Heard has damaged her silence on her defamation trial in opposition to ex-husband Johnny Depp for the primary time since a jury dominated in opposition to her – claiming that the ‘unfair’ verdict was the results of biased ‘social media illustration’ and accusing the actor of making an attempt to sway the jury by placing ‘paid workers and randos’ on the stand.
The 36-year-old spoke out in regards to the damning verdict in opposition to her in a three-part interview with the Immediately present, which was pre-recorded on Thursday and commenced airing on Monday morning.
In the course of the sit-down with Savannah Guthrie – who final week interviewed Depp’s authorized workforce on the present and whose husband really consulted for them in the course of the trial – Heard hit out on the ‘hate and vitriol’ that she has confronted all through the trial and within the wake of the jury’s verdict, whereas blasting the ‘unfair’ determination made in opposition to her.
Heard, who flew to New York Metropolis on a personal jet on Friday to conduct the interview, doubled down on accusations made by her lawyer final week that the jury was swayed by social media, whereas additionally suggesting that they had been gained over by Depp’s ‘glorious appearing’ on the stand.
‘Even any individual who is certain I am deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you happen to suppose that I am mendacity, you continue to could not look me within the eye that you simply suppose on social media there’s been a good illustration,’ she mentioned. ‘You can not inform me that you simply suppose that this has been honest.’
Earlier this month, a jury dominated that Heard defamed her ex-husband by publishing a chunk about being a sexual assault survivor within the Washington Submit. She was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, though the second cost was lowered to $350,000 per Virginia regulation by the decide. She was awarded a comparatively paltry $2 million in compensatory damages, which means that Depp, 59, walked away from the case with Heard owing him $8.35 million.
Amber Heard has damaged her silence on the Johnny Depp defamation trial verdict, talking out for the primary time since a jury dominated that she defamed her ex-husband – and ordered her to pay him $10 million in damages
The 36-year-old actress sat down with the Immediately present’s Savannah Guthrie to debate the decision, which she blasted as ‘unfair’, blaming biased ‘social media illustration’
Heard – whose authorized workforce has mentioned that she plans to enchantment the decision – additionally accused the jury of being gained over by her ex-husband’s ‘glorious appearing’ and ‘beloved’ public status, whereas suggesting that Depp swayed jurors by placing ‘paid workers and randos’ on the stand to testify on his behalf in the course of the six-week trial.
‘I will put it this fashion, how may they make a judgment, how may they not come to that conclusion [that I couldn’t be believed]?’ she mentioned. ‘That they had mentioned in these seats and heard over three weeks of nonstop, relentless testimony from paid workers and in direction of the tip of the trial, randos, as I say.
‘I do not blame them, I do not blame them, I really perceive, he is a beloved character and folks really feel that they know him. He is a improbable actor.
‘Once more, how may they after listening to a few and a half weeks of testimony about how I used to be an uncredible individual and to not imagine a phrase that got here out of my mouth.’
In the course of the marathon six-week trial in Fairfax, Virginia, which began on April 11 and concluded on June 1, Depp known as 38 witnesses whereas Heard’s workforce known as 24.
Each Depp and Heard gave proof for 4 days every, together with a forensic cross examination from the opposition attorneys – then each returned to the witness stand to testify a second time.
The jury noticed dozens of texts, pictures, movies, medical information and even pages from the previous couple’s ‘Love Journal’ they hand wrote to one another.
The libel case was so sophisticated that the decision sheet had 42 questions the jury needed to reply earlier than delivering the decision: 24 questions for Depp’s claims and 18 for Heard’s counterclaim.
The court docket heard clips of recordings that Depp and Heard made throughout their arguments, a few of their most intimate moments that had been performed again for the world years later in essentially the most public setting conceivable.
All through the trial, social media was flooded with posts in regards to the authorized proceedings – with the bulk being shared in help of Depp below the hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp. As of June 13, the hashtag had greater than 20.6 billion views on TikTok, whereas the #JusticeForAmberHeard tag had a comparatively low 92.4 million views.
Heard urged that the jury was swayed by her husband’s ‘glorious appearing’, whereas accusing Depp (seen along with his lawyer Camille Vasquez) of placing ‘paid workers and randos’ on the stand to testify for him and win over jurors
The interview marks the primary time that Heard has publicly addressed the decision – which she beforehand blasted as a ‘setback for different ladies’ in a press release printed minutes after the ruling was learn out in court docket
However regardless of insisting that social media performed a key function within the end result of the trial, Heard, whose interview will air in full on NBC’s Dateline this Friday at 8pm after being teased out on the Immediately present on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, claimed that she is not taking any destructive public opinions about her ‘personally’, insisting that she ‘would not care what anybody thinks about her’.
‘I do not care what anybody thinks about me or what judgments you need to make about what occurred within the privateness of my own residence in my marriage behind closed doorways,’ she instructed Guthrie. ‘I do not presume the typical individual ought to know these issues so I do not take it personally.’
The interview marks the primary time that Heard has publicly addressed the decision – which she beforehand blasted as a ‘setback for different ladies’ in a press release printed minutes after the ruling was learn out in court docket.
‘The frustration I really feel at present is past phrases. I am heartbroken that the mountain of proof nonetheless was not sufficient to face as much as the disproportionate energy, affect, and sway of my ex-husband,’ Heard mentioned in a press release shared simply minutes after the decision was learn out in court docket, the place she was current for the judgement, whereas Depp was mentioned
‘I am much more disillusioned with what this verdict means for different ladies. It’s a setback. It units again the clock to a time when a lady who spoke up and spoke out could possibly be publicly shamed and humiliated. It units again the concept violence in opposition to ladies is to be taken critically.’
The day after the ruling was handed down, Heard’s lawyer Elaine Charlson Bredhoft revealed that her consumer was planning to enchantment the decision, insisting that she had ‘glorious grounds’ to take action, whereas claiming that the actress is unable to pay the $8.35 million in damages that she owes Depp.
Throughout an look on the Immediately present, Bredhoft was requested if the Aquaman actress would be capable to pay the damages she owes Depp after a jury vindicated his claims that she lied by accusing him of abuse throughout their marriage, to which she replied: ‘No, completely not.’
The lawyer additionally echoed her consumer’s ideas on the decision, blasting it as a ‘important setback’ for girls.
‘It is a horrible message. It is a setback, a big setback as a result of that is precisely what it means,’ Bredhoft mentioned of the decision.
‘Until you pull out your telephone and also you video your partner or your important different beating you, successfully, you will not be believed.’
She additionally urged that the jury within the case had been swayed by public opinion – together with social media posts that had been shared in help of Depp – a declare that his authorized workforce has since slammed as ‘totally false’.
To be granted an enchantment, Heard would possible have to exhibit that there have been errors within the trial, or within the presiding decide’s studying of the regulation.
She would additionally have to submit bond of the complete $10,350,000, plus curiosity costs over the course of an enchantment trial.
Depp initially sued Heard for $50million claiming that she defamed him with an op-ed piece printed by the Washington Submit in 2018 through which she claimed to be a survivor of home abuse.
Heard then countersued for $100million claiming that Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman made defamatory statements by calling her claims a ‘hoax.’