Los Angeles: Amber Heard has given her first sit-down interview following the verdict against her in her latest legal battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp, reports ‘Variety’.
In an interview with Savannah Guthrie of the American television network NBC’s ‘Today’ show, Heard said she understands why the Virginia jury reached their verdict in favour of Depp.
“I don’t blame them,” Heard told Guthrie, according to ‘Variety’. “I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.” The news-based show is scheduled to go on air Tuesday and Wednesday.
Referring to the extended negative social media coverage she faced, Heard said she believed her treatment had been unfair. A clip from the interview was carried Monday on the Twitter handle of the ‘Today’ show.
“I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my home, in my marriage, behind closed doors,” Heard said. “I don’t presume the average person should know those things. And so I don’t take it personally.”
Heard continued: “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.”
Last month, a jury in Virginia ruled that Heard had defamed Depp in a 2018 ‘Washington Post’ op-ed published under her byline. In it, she spoke about being a victim of domestic violence.
Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages after he successfully persuaded the court that his career and reputation had been damaged as a result of the article.
Depp had previously lost a similar case in the U.K. after he sued the red-top tabloid ‘The Sun’ over an article which called him a “wifebeater”. In that case a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to back up the allegation.