Amber Heard says she stands by ‘every word’ of her testimony
This combination of two separate photos shows actors Johnny Depp, left, and Amber Heard in the courtroom for closing arguments at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., on Friday, May 27, 2022. Heard says she doesn’t blame the jury that awarded Johnny Depp more than $10 million after a contentious six-week libel trial in her first post-verdict interview. She told Savannah Guthrie of “Today” in a clip aired Monday that she understood how the jury reached its conclusion and said Depp is a “beloved character and people feel they know him.” (AP Photos/Steve Helber, Pool)
NEW YORK (AP) — Amber Heard says she stands by the testimony she gave during a contentious six-week libel trial against former husband Johnny Depp, saying she has “always told the truth.”
“That’s all I spoke. And I spoke it to power. And I paid the price,” Heard said in her first post-verdict interview, two weeks after a jury awarded Depp more than $10 million and vindicated his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her.
Depp sued Heard for libel in Virginia over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name. Though the jury sided with Depp, Heard was also awarded $2 million over her claim that one of Depp’s attorneys defamed her.
“To my dying day, I’ll stand by every word of my testimony,” Heard told NBC’s “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, in an interview airing Tuesday and Wednesday. “I made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always told the truth.”
Depp, who has not yet done a formal interview about the case, has said the verdict “gave me my life back.”
When referring to Depp’s legal team, Heard said, “His lawyer did a better job at distracting the jury from the real issues.”
The verdicts brought an end to a televised trial that offered a window into a volatile marriage and both actors emerged with unclear prospects for their careers.
On TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, the vast majority of comments criticized Heard. She called the social media frenzy that surrounded her case “unfair.”
“This is the most humiliating and horrible thing I’ve ever been through,” Heard said in the Tuesday interview clip.
Heard described a “toxic” marriage to Depp.
“I did do and say horrible, regrettable things throughout my relationship. I behaved in horrible, almost unrecognizable to myself ways. I have so much regret,” she said.
The Heard interview will also be featured in Friday’s “Dateline” episode.
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