NBC News has shared an extended clip of Amber Heard’s first sit-down interview since a jury found her guilty of defaming her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
Speaking to Savannah Guthrie, Heard doubled down on her claims that she was physically and emotionally abused by Depp. “To my dying day I will stand by every word of my testimony,” Heard said.
Asked then to explain why a jury of her peers ruled against her, the Aquaman actress suggested that social media and the frenzy surrounding the trial swayed their judgement. “This trial is an example of social media gone haywire, gone amuck,” Heard argued. “The jury is not immune to that. I think even the most well-intentioned juror… it would have been impossible to avoid this.”
“Every single day I passed three, four, sometimes six city blocks with people holding signs saying ‘Burn the Witch,’ ‘Death to Amber,'” Heard added. “After three and a half weeks, I took the stand and saw a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were vocal, energized… Even if you think I’m lying, you couldn’t look at social media and tell me it was a fair representation.”
Heard also said Depp’s lawyers “did a better job of distracting the jury from the real issues,” and scoffed at their closing argument that the actress had given the “performance of a lifetime” on the witness stand. “I had listened to weeks of testimony — insinuating that or saying quite directly that, you know, I’m a terrible actress. So I’m a bit confused how I could be both,” she asserted.
In the interview, Heard repeatedly pushed back against on claims brought fourth by Depp’s legal team — that she was the abuser in the relationship, and that there were audio recordings to prove it. “I am looking at a transcript that says — he says, ‘You start physical fights,’ And you say, ‘I did start a physical fight. I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again,’” Guthrie read, adding, “This is in black and white. I understand context. But you’re testifying, and you’re telling me today, ‘I never started a physical fight,’ and here you are on tape saying you did.”
