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Amber Heard to ‘stand by’ accusations against Johnny Depp until her ‘dying day’, she reveals in TV interview

Amber Heard has given an interview with NBC Today which has aired on Tuesday - her first since her defamation case with her former husband

Daniel Keane

14 June 2022

Amber Heard has said to her “dying day” she will “stand by every word” of her testimony against Johnny Depp, in an explosive first interview since the highly publicised defamation case.

The actress, 36, said the trial was the “most humiliating and horrible thing” she has ever done.

“I have never felt more removed from my own humanity, I felt less than human,” she told NBC Today journalist Savannah Guthrie.

She recounted passing by “three, four, sometimes six” city blocks full of people saying “burn the witch” and “death to Amber”.

Heard also accused the courtroom of being “packed full” of “Captain Jack Sparrow fans” who were “vocal, energised”.

The full interview has aired on Tuesday at 12pm UK time on Today and will air on Friday on the Dateline programme.

Heard claimed that a “vast majority” of the trial was played out on social media, and it was impossible for the jury to avoid it.

“I think that this trial is an example of that gone haywire, that gone amuck, and the jury is not immune to that.

“How could they not?

“I think the most well intentioned juror, it would have been impossible to avoid this.”

She told Ms Guthrie that she was not confident when the verdict - in favour of Mr Depp - was read out, and that it has been “surreal and difficult” to process.

“I would not blame the average person for looking at this and how it’s been covered, and not think that it’s Hollywood brats at their worst, but it’s actually so much bigger than that,” she said.

In response to Depp’s lawyers claiming Heard did not take responsibility for her actions, she said: “I did do and say horrible, regrettable things throughout my relationship. I behaved in horrible, almost unrecognisable to myself ways. I have so much regret.

“I made a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always told the truth.”

Heard said of the jury: "I don't blame them. I actually understand. He's a beloved character and people feel they know him. He's a fantastic actor."

Guthrie from NBC Today responded by saying: "Their job is to not be dazzled by that. Their job is to look at the facts and evidence and they did not believe your testimony or your evidence."

Heard added: "Again, how could they after listening to three and a half weeks of testimony about how I was a non-credible person, how not to believe a word that came out of my mouth?"

Speaking about the messages she has received online, she said: "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."

Following six weeks of evidence at a court in Fairfax County, Virginia, a jury found that a 2018 article Heard wrote for the Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse to be defamatory.

Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation lawsuit in Virginia (2022)

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Depp was awarded 10.35 million dollars (£8.2 million) in damages.

Heard won on one count of her counter-suit, successfully arguing that Depp's press agent defamed her by claiming her allegations were "an abuse hoax" aimed at capitalising on the MeToo movement.

The jury awarded her two million dollars (£1.5 million) in damages.

As deliberations began, Depp appeared on stage with veteran rock guitarist Jeff Beck, 77, during his UK tour and the pair also recently announced a collaborative album.

Depp previously lost a similar trial in the UK which he brought against the publisher of The Sun newspaper after an article, also written in 2018, which referred to him as a "wife-beater".

Deadline reported the interview with Heard was filmed on Thursday June 9 in New York under tight security and secrecy.

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Amber Heard to ‘stand by’ accusations against Johnny Depp until her ‘dying day’, she reveals in TV interview

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