‘VERDICT’S9 UNFAIR.. JOHNNY LIED IN COURT’
Amber repeats Depp abuse claim after £8.2m libel loss
AMBER Heard used her first TV interview since her £8.2million defamation loss to Johnny Depp to accuse him of physical abuse again.
Despite losing her bitter court battle with her former husband this month, the actress, 36, repeated her court claims he assaulted her during their marriage.
Heard branded Depp, 59, a “liar” while speaking out about the “unfair” verdict.
Despite being found guilty on three counts of defamation, she refused to retract court claims of abuse against the Pirates of the Caribbean star.
Instead, she accused Depp of lying on the stand when he said he had not been violent with her.
The Today show’s Savannah Guthrie asked: “He said he never hit you. Is that a lie?”
Heard responded: “Yes, it is.”
The Aquaman actress insisted she would stand by her evidence “to my dying day”, adding she had been affected emotionally by the US trial.
Heard said: “This was the most humiliating and horrible thing I have ever been through. I have never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human.”
During yesterday’s interview, Guthrie suggested some people were “frankly disgusted” by what played out in court between the couple. Heard replied: “Absolutely, I would not blame the average person for looking at this and how this has been covered and not thinking that this is Hollywood brats at their worst. “But what people don’t understand is that it is actually so much bigger than that. This is not only about our first amendment right to speak.” During the explosive interview on NBC yesterday, Guthrie interrupted Heard, saying: “But here’s the thing, the first amendment protects free speech.
“It doesn’t protect lies that amount to defamation and that was the issue in the case.” Following six weeks of evidence at a court in Fairfax County, Virginia, a jury found a 2018 article Heard wrote for the Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse to be defamatory. Depp was awarded $10.35million in damages.
Heard won on one count of her countersuit, successfully arguing that Depp’s press agent defamed her by claiming her allegations were “an abuse hoax” aimed at capitalising on the #MeToo movement.
The jury awarded her $2million (£1.5 million) in damages.
As deliberations began, Depp appeared on stage with rock star Jeff Beck, 77, during his UK tour.
The pair also recently announced a collaborative album.
Depp previously lost a similar trial in the UK, which he brought against the publisher of The Sun newspaper.
An article, which was also written in 2018, had referred to the actor and musician as a “wife-beater”.