Amber Heard Speaks Out in First Interview Since Johnny Depp Trial, Says Social Media Treatment Is Unfair

In her first interview since the conclusion of the Johnny Depp defamation trial, Amber Heard said she doesn’t take the outcome “personally.” The treatment of the case on social media, however, was—as Heard explained in a preview clip of the forthcoming full interview with Savannah Guthrie—not “fair.”

Speaking on the extensively publicized case, which ultimately saw jurors siding with Depp and awarding him over $10 million (while Heard was found in a counterclaim to have been defamed by a lawyer working for Depp and awarded $2 million), Heard pointed to the social media issue as one on which she believes even her critics could agree.

“I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgments you wanna make about what happened in the privacy in my own home in my marriage behind closed doors, I don’t presume the average person should know those things,” Heard said in a clip released via NBC News and Today on Monday. “So 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 there’s been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.”

Guthrie specifically mentioned the jury having “looked at the evidence” and not believed her, to which Heard responded by pointing out the type of testimony they were given over the weeks-long trial.

“I’ll put it this way, how could they make a judgment? How could they not come to that conclusion? They had sat in those seats and they had heard over three weeks of nonstop, relentless testimony from paid employees—and towards the end of the trial—randos, as I say,” she said.

Ultimately, Heard said in the preview clip, she doesn’t “blame” jurors.

“I don’t blame them,” she told Guthrie. “I actually understand. He’s a beloved character. And people feel like they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”

See more above. Ahead of an extended format premiere this Friday via Dateline, more of Heard and Guthrie’s discussion will be released on Tuesday and Wednesday on Today.

The social media aspect of Heard’s criticism has been an ongoing source of concern, both leading up to and following the U.S. trial. Various content creators spoke out earlier this month about the “hostile” environment they say is being spurred by some Depp fans.

Meanwhile, Heard is expected to appeal the verdict against her.