The actress is giving her first TV interview since losing against her ex-husband in court.
Amber Heard is speaking out in her first interview since Johnny Depp won his defamation lawsuit against her less than two weeks ago.
Heard sits down with NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie for an interview special which will air on NBC News’ Today show on Tuesday, and Wednesday, with additional footage airing Friday, June 17 during a special Dateline. During their discussion, Heard explains why she doesn't blame the jury who unanimously decided that Depp was defamed by her.
“I don't blame them. I actually understand," Heard says in a clip released on Monday. "He's a beloved character and people feel they know him. He's a fantastic actor.”
The 36-year-old actress also opens up about how she doesn't believe there was a fair representation of her on social media throughout the six-week trial.
“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," Heard says. "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," Heard reiterates.
Despite Heard's feelings on how social media perceived her, Depp's attorneys, Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez, spoke out during two interviews last week where they said they didn't believe the platforms played a part in the outcome of the trial.
"My view is that social media played no role whatsoever," Chew told Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos. "This was a decision made by the jury on the evidence presented by both sides, and as Camille said, it was overwhelmingly in Mr. Depp's favor."
During Chew and Vasquez's interview with Guthrie, the talk show co-host disclosed that her husband, Michael Feldman, had worked as a consultant for Depp's legal team in his defamation trial, but explained it was "not in connection with this interview."
Following the release of the first promo for her interview with Guthrie, a spokesperson for Heard released a statement to ET.
"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," reads the message. "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 legal battle began in March 2019 when Depp first filed his $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard after she penned an op-ed for the Washington Post in December 2018 detailing how she was the victim of domestic violence. While the article did not mention the actor by name, it came as their contentious 2016 divorce continued to make news headlines.
The six-week trial ended on June 1, with the jury siding with Depp. He was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. His punitive damages, however, were reduced to $350,000 in accordance with the state's statutory cap.
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