Amber Heard interview: Actor tells Savannah Guthrie on Today show she and Johnny Depp may have been seen as ‘Hollywood brats’ in trial

“Every single day I passed, for three, four, sometimes six blocks, city blocks with people holding signs saying ‘burn the witch’, ‘death to Amber’. After three and a half weeks, I took the stand and saw just a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans, who were vocal, energized,” Ms Heard said.

“Can you put into words how that felt?” Ms Guthrie asked.

“This was the most humiliating and horrible thing I’ve ever been through. I have never felt more removed from my own humanity,” Ms Heard said. “I felt less than human.”

After Johnny Depp largely prevailed in his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, her attorney Elaine Bredehoft announced her client “absolutely” intends to appeal.

The jury of five men and two women announced on Wednesday (1 June) it had found that Ms Heard defamed Mr Depp on three statements. Jurors also found that Ms Heard was defamed by one of three statements in her countersuit.

The Independent spoke with three attorneys about Ms Heard’s possible grounds for an appeal, or even a new trial: Lisa Bloom of The Bloom Firm, whose clients have included Janice Dickinson, Mischa Barton, and several victims of Jeffrey Epstein; Jesse Weber, a host and attorney at the Law & Crime network, who covered the trial from the courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia; and Mitra Ahouraian, an entertainment attorney in Beverly Hills who represents actors, directors, producers, and musicians.

As a public figure, Johnny Depp faced a high bar to win his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. According to seven unanimous jurors, he cleared it.

Depp said his ex-wife defamed him in a 2018 newspaper op-ed in which she alluded to abuse allegations against Depp. His name was never mentioned.

The Virginia civil jury ruled in favor of Depp on all three of his counts Wednesday, finding that Heard had not only made false and defamatory statements, but that she’d done so with “actual malice” — a higher threshold for cases involving public figures . Jurors concluded Depp should receive more than $10 million.

Depp’s victory was not absolute, though. Jurors also concluded that part of Heard’s counterclaim had merits. They rejected two of Heard’s three counts, but found she was defamed by a Depp lawyer who accused her of roughing up their apartment to look worse for police. The jury awarded her $2 million.

A look at each count jurors considered:

Court proceedings were broadcast live on TV throughout the six-week legal battle, with the trial also attracting crowds of in-person admirers, many of whom stood outside the courthouse to voice their support for Depp.

Ms Guthrie, whose husband worked as a consultant for Mr Depp’s legal team, probed Ms Heard about recordings played to the jury where she was heard “taunting” her then-husband about being a “victim of domestic violence”.

Hollywood actress Amber Heard has given her first interview since a Virginia jury found her guilty of defaming her former husband Johnny Depp, sitting down with NBC journalist Savannah Guthrie to reflect on her side of the story.

The network plans to air excerpts from its blockbuster interview in installations on 14 and 15 June and in a one-hour Dateline special on 17 June.

What is surprising is not that the Aquaman star is speaking out about her experiences but that her choice of broadcaster to confide in happens to have a known connection to her former husband.

Amber Heard insists that she spoke “truth to power” throughout the high-profile defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp in a recent exclusive interview on NBC’s TodayShow.

“The First Amendment protects speech … it doesn’t protect lies that amount to defamation,” NBC host Savannah Guthrie put to the actor in her first interview since Mr Depp won his $50m defamation case against her. The jury also awarded Ms Heard a partial win in her countersuit, which was decided earlier this month.