Amber Heard Finally Speaks Out After Losing Defamation Trial Against Johnny Depp

Amber Heard finally spoke up on the defamation trial against her by her ex-husband Johnny Depp. This is the first time Heard is speaking up after her ex-husband's victory. 

The Aquaman actress claims that the 'unfair' verdict was the result of biased 'social media representation' and accuses the actor of trying to sway the jury by putting 'paid employees and randos' on the stand. 

The 36-year-old spoke out about the damning verdict against her in a three-part interview with the Today show, which was pre-recorded on Thursday and began airing on Monday morning. 

During the sit-down with Savannah Guthrie - who last week interviewed Depp's legal team on the show and whose husband actually consulted for them during the trial - Heard hit out at the 'hate and vitriol' that she has faced throughout the trial and in the wake of the jury's verdict while blasting the 'unfair' decision made against her. 

Heard flew in from New York City on a private jet for the interview and addressed the accusations that her lawyer had already pointed out. The actress suggested that they were won over by Depp's 'excellent acting' on the stand.

'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 that you think on social media there's been a fair representation,' she said. 'You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.'

Johnny Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard for the 2018 op-ed that she wrote and in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic violence.

The jury ruled in favor of Depp after a six-week-long trial and Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, although the second payment was reduced to $350,000 per Virginia law by the judge.

She was awarded a relatively paltry $2 million in compensatory damages, meaning that Depp, 59, walked away from the case with Heard owing him $8.35 million.

Though Heard's legal team has confirmed that the actress plans to appeal the verdict. Heard also accused the jury of being won over by her ex-husband's 'excellent acting' and 'beloved' public reputation, while suggesting that Depp swayed jurors by putting 'paid employees and randos' on the stand to testify on his behalf during the six-week trial.

'I'll put it this way, how could they make a judgment, how could they not come to that conclusion [that I couldn't be believed]?' she said. 'They had said in those seats and heard over three weeks of nonstop, relentless testimony from paid employees and towards the end of the trial, randos, as I say. 

'I don't blame them, I don't blame them, I actually understand, he's a beloved character and people feel that they know him. He's a fantastic actor.

'Again, how could they after listening to three and a half weeks of testimony about how I was an uncredible person and not to believe a word that came out of my mouth.' 

The six-week-long trial happened in Fairfax, Virginia on April 11 and ended on June 1.

During the trial, Depp called on 38 witnesses, meanwhile, Heard called on 24.

Both the parties were given four days each, including a forensic examination from both sides lawyers. They both again returned to the witness stand to testify a second time.

The jury saw dozens of texts, photos, videos, medical records and even pages from the former couple's 'Love Journal' they hand-wrote to each other.

With time, more evidence was provided and the libel case proved to be really complicated such that the verdict sheet had 42 questions the jury had to answer before delivering the verdict: 24 questions for Depp's claims and 18 for Heard's counterclaim.

For evidence, the court heard voice recordings of Depp and Heard, taken during their fights and even some of their most intimate moments that were played back for the world years later in the most public setting imaginable.

As the trial proceeded, it became the center of attention on social media with the majority speaking up in favor of Depp under the hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp. As of June 13, the hashtag had more than 20.6 billion views on TikTok, while the #JusticeForAmberHeard tag had a relatively low 92.4 million views.

Meanwhile, Heard insists that social media played a key role in the trial.

Heard's full interview will air in full on NBC's Dateline this Friday at 8pm after being teased out on the Today show on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, claimed that she isn't taking any negative public opinions about her 'personally', insisting that she 'doesn't care what anyone thinks about her'. 

'I don't care what anyone 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,' she told Guthrie. 'I don't presume the average person should know those things so I don't take it personally.'

This will be the first time Heard will be seen addressing her ex-husband's victory and sharing her views and points in terms of the jury verdict - which she previously blasted as a 'setback for other women' in a statement published minutes after the ruling was read out in court. 

'The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband,' Heard said in a statement shared just minutes after the verdict was read out in court, where she was present for the judgement, while Depp was said

'I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.'

Only a day after the verdict, Heard's lawyer Elaine Charlson Bredhoft revealed that her client was planning to appeal the verdict, insisting that she had 'excellent grounds' to do so, while claiming that the actress is unable to pay the $8.35 million in damages that she owes Depp.

During an appearance on the Today show, Bredhoft was asked if the Aquaman actress would be able to pay the damages she owes Depp after a jury vindicated his claims that she lied by accusing him of abuse during their marriage, to which she replied: 'No, absolutely not.'

The lawyer pointed out the same points as her client during the interview and blasted it as a 'significant setback' for women.

'It's a horrible message. It's a setback, a significant setback because that's exactly what it means,' Bredhoft said of the verdict.

'Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively, you won't be believed.'

In fact, she even said that the jury had been swayed by the public opinion as social media only supported Depp - a claim that his legal team has since slammed as 'utterly false'.

It is believed that to file an appeal, Heard would likely need to demonstrate that there were errors in the trial, or in the presiding judge's reading of the law.

She would also need to post a bond of the full $10,350,000, plus interest charges over the course of an appeal trial.

Depp initially sued Heard for $50m, claiming that she defamed him with an op-ed piece which destroyed both his career and his personal life.

Heard then countersued for $100million claiming that Depp's lawyer Adam Waldman made defamatory statements by calling her claims a 'hoax.'

Amber Heard's appearance on the Today show comes only few days after Guthrie, 50, sat down with Depp's lawyers Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, who slammed any suggestion that social media played a role in the jury's decision-making as 'utterly false'. 

'My view is that social media played no role whatsoever this was a decision made by the jury on the evidence. It was overwhelmingly in Depp's favor,' said Chew.