Amber Heard
Actress Amber Heard has broken her silence about her loss in a defamation lawsuit against ex-husband Johnny Depp and shares about her life after the case that captivated the nation. When asked if he was concerned about her being sued again for defamation, Heard said, “I fear that no matter what I say or how I say, every one I take The move will present another opportunity for me. Such silence,” she said, ‘Variety’ reports.
Host Savannah Guthrie texted Depp to Heard that she would be the victim of a “total global humiliation” and asked Heard if she thought that was true. “I know he promised,” she said.
I testified. Watch and hear his own words, which he promises to do. Looks like he has.”
When asked if she expected to “cancel” Depp with the op-ed, Hurd said, “Absolutely not. It wasn’t about him.”
When asked about her upcoming plans, Hurd said, “I want to be a full-time mom where I’m not on call with lawyers,” she said.
When asked about Depp on TODAY, Heard said, “I love him. I loved him with all my heart. And I tried my best to work out a deeply broken relationship. I couldn’t. To him. There was no bad feeling or malice. All. I know it can be hard to understand or it can be easy to understand, if you’ve ever loved someone it should be easy.”
Heard spoke to the host on NBC’s “Today” show for the first interview since the conclusion of the highly publicized trial between herself and Depp. During the interview, the two discussed the decision of the case, which ended with both Heard and Depp receiving compensatory damages, although Depp received significantly more.
In the first part of the interview, Hurd denied lying about the alleged abuse during his testimony, saying, “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always told the truth.” She also discussed her belief that social media coverage of the trial helped influence the outcome, saying that “I think it would have been impossible for even the most well-intentioned jurors to avoid it.”
“Every single day I walked through three, four, sometimes six city blocks, standing with people saying ‘Burn the Witch,’ ‘Death to Ember.’ After three and a half weeks, I took the stand And saw a courtroom full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were outspoken, energetic.”
The trial between Depp and Heard saw a Virginia jury rule that both Heard and Depp were guilty of defamation to each other. The jury ruled in favor of three defamation counts brought by plaintiff Depp and one defamation case brought by Heard in his counterclaim.
Depp received $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, reducing punitive damages to the state’s statutory limit of $350,000. Hurd received $2 million in compensatory damages for his counterclaim.
The lawsuit began when Depp, the plaintiff in the case, sued Heard for defamation about a 2018 Washington Post op-ed he published citing being a victim of past abuse. Although the op-ed did not directly mention the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, Depp claimed the op-ed damaged his reputation and ruined his career.
A year before the publication of the op-ed, Heard and Depp divorced after two years of marriage, with Heard alleging that Depp subjected her to emotional, physical and sexual abuse throughout their relationship.
In 2020, ahead of the US trial, the High Court of London ruled against Depp in a separate defamation case that Depp sued The Sun for writing about allegations of abuse.
A UK court ruled that he attacked Heard in 12 of the 14 alleged incidents, ‘Variety’ reports. During the trial, Heard became a target for online posts, often ridiculing him in favor of supporting Depp.
During the trial, several viral trends surfaced mocking Heard, with TikTok trends mocking her testimony in which she described her alleged abuse during her relationship with Depp. The hashtag ‘Justice for Johnny Depp’ got 20 billion views on TikTok, while the hashtag ‘Justice for Amber Heard’ got 27 million views.
Since the conclusion of the Virginia trial, Heard’s attorney, Elaine Breedhoft, has publicly stated that her client plans to appeal the verdict.
NBC’s Guthrie is particularly concerned with the Heard/Depp case, as her husband, Michael Feldman, served as an advisor to Depp’s legal team. Guthrie revealed the information earlier this month during an interview with Depp’s lawyers, Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez, on TODAY.
-IANS with inputs