Amber Heard in First Post-Trial Interview: I Don’t Blame the Jury

The actor discusses the defamation case brought by ex Johnny Depp on Today and Dateline this week.

By Rich Juzwiak  |  June 13, 2022 | 1:40pm
CelebritiesDirt Bag
Amber Heard in First Post-Trial Interview: I Don’t Blame the Jury
Screenshot:NBC News/Today

Amber Heard has granted her first post-trial interview to NBC’s Savannah Guthrie. A preview clip from their talk aired on Monday’s Today show, with full segments scheduled to run on the Tuesday and Wednesday episodes of Today. Additionally, Friday’s episode of Dateline will feature the interview.

In the two-minute clip, Heard’s tone is measured. She addresses what she sees as the court of public opinion’s unfairness in its response to the case. Heard tells Guthrie:

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 that there’s been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think this has been fair.

Regarding the way things played out in actual court—a jury found that Heard defamed her ex-husband Johnny Depp in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed and ordered her to pay $15 million in damages (reduced to $10.4 million)—Heard wonders, “How could they not come to that conclusion?” Guthrie asks if she blames the jury and Heard elaborates:

I don’t blame them. I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor…How could they, after listening to three and a half weeks of testimony about how I was an un-credible person, not…believe a word that came out of my mouth?

Deadline reports that the interview was filmed last week in New York “under tight security and secrecy.” According to that site, Heard also discussed the verdict’s potential impact on free speech and abuse survivors going forward, the spectacle of the trial, and the libel case Depp lost in 2020 in the U.K. More on this exclusive interview soon.

Just a little note on trophies: Sunday’s Tony Awards made Jennifer Hudson an EGOT. That is, she is now a recipient of each of the four awards that are considered to be the highest honors in their respective entertainment fields: an Emmy for television, a Grammy for music, an Oscar for movies, and a Tony for stage work. Hudson won her Oscar in 2006 for Dreamgirls. She picked up her first Grammy in 2009 for Best R&B Album (her self-titled release), and then another in 2017 for Best Musical Theater Album (The Color Purple). Her Emmy came in 2021 (Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program – Baba Yaga). And now the Tony, which she won as a result of co-producing the Broadway phenomenon A Strange Loop, the winner of the coveted Best Musical honor at Sunday’s Tonys.

Not to buy into a straw-man argument, but just to counter a bit of picking I saw on social media regarding how actually impressive a producing win is from Hudson, who has established herself as a performer, it’s important to note that artists like Whoopi Goldberg and John Legend also received their Tonys for producing (the 2002 revival of Thoroughly Modern Millie and 2017 revival of Jitney, respectively). Hudson had the foresight to align herself with a beloved show that is successful, acclaimed, and now Tony-winning. I don’t know to what degree she was involved in producing the Broadway run of A Strange Loop, but even if she slapped her name on it and threw some money at it, that’s a sign of taste, which is far too rare to come by in these times. That alone deserves a trophy.