Amber Heard is breaking her silence since the defamation trial against her former husband, Johnny Depp. Heard spoke to NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie in a preview which was released Monday.
While both Heard and Depp were found liable for defamation in dueling lawsuits against each other, the jury, awarded significantly more damages to Depp. Depp, 58, won all three defamation claims in his case brought against his ex-wife over her 2018 op-ed about coming forward with domestic abuse allegations.
She told Guthrie she understood. “I don’t blame them. I actually understand,” she said. “He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”
Heard also said she doesn’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,” she added.
“I don’t take it personally,” she said. “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.”
“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,” a spokesperson for Heard said in a statement to CNN.
“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.”
The NBC interview will air on “Today” Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as on “Dateline.” on Friday.
According to her lawyer, Heard plans to appeal the verdict.
Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, who represented Heard, 36, revealed on the Today show this past Thursday morning how her client’s battle with the actor isn’t anywhere near over.
She went on to share how there were a “number of evidentiary issues.” The attorney said, “There was so much evidence that did not come in. We even had tried to get the U.K. judgment in to dismiss his case, because [Depp] already had his shot,” Bredehoft added.