Amber Heard speaks out against ‘hate and vitriol’ online during her court battle with Johnny Depp
After six weeks of debate, the seven jurors of the court of Fairfax, in the United States, concluded on June 1 that the ex-spouses had defamed each other through the press. But they awarded more than 10 million dollars to the star of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, against only 2 million for that of “Aquaman”.
The highly publicized trial, broadcast live on television, exposed the lackluster private lives of the two Hollywood celebrities, sparking a rash of insulting messages towards the 36-year-old actress on social media.
“I guess normal people don’t know about ‘this slur campaign’ and I don’t take it personally,” she said in an interview on NBC, her first since the trial.
“But even someone who is certain that I deserve this hatred and vitriol, even if he thinks that I am lying, he cannot look me in the eye and tell me that he thinks the treatment was fair on the social media,” she added.
Listen to Anaïs Guertin-Lacroix’s column at the microphone of Geneviève Pettersen on QUB radio:
Johnny Depp was suing his ex-wife for defamation, who described herself in a column published by the Washington Post in 2018 as “a public figure representing domestic violence”, without naming her ex-husband.
He was seeking $50 million in damages, saying the platform had destroyed his career and reputation. Amber Heard had counter-attacked and demanded the double.
According to her lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, the actress will appeal the judgment.
In excerpts from the interview, which will be broadcast in full on Friday, Amber Heard claims not to have made the decision of the jurors “personally”.
“How could they have come to a decision, how could they not have come to this conclusion?” she wondered.
“They sat and heard for three weeks relentless testimonies from people employed (by Johnny Depp), and towards the end, from random people,” she said.
“I don’t blame them, actually I get that he’s a beloved character, that people think they know, he’s a fantastic actor,” Amber Heard explained.
When the journalist opposite her suggested that the jurors should not take these elements into account, she replied: “How could they, after hearing for three weeks that I was not credible, believe a word that came out of my mouth?”
