Amber Heard Defends Her Innocence on Today: 'I've Always Told the Truth'

Amber Heard appeared on NBC's Today on Tuesday, speaking to Savannah Guthrie about the trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp. In the interview, Heard defended her innocence and discussed the claims made against her during the headline-making trial.

"To my dying day, I'll stand by every word of my testimony," said Heard. She called the trial "the most humiliating and horrible thing I've ever been through," saying, "I've never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human."

On June 1, a Virginia jury found that Heard defamed Depp in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that implied she was a victim of domestic violence. As a result, Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages — reduced to $350,000 due to the state's statutory cap. The jury also found that Depp defamed Heard, awarding her $2 million in compensatory damages for her counterclaim.

After the case, Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez stated, "We believe that evidence speaks for itself," adding, "The jury made a unanimous decision based on those facts."

Heard also discussed the public vitriol she received during the trial and how it could have affected the jury. "I think even the most well-intentioned juror…it would have been impossible to avoid this," she told Guthrie. "Every single day I passed three, four, sometimes six city blocks lined with people holding signs saying 'Burn the Witch,' 'Death to Amber.' After three and a half weeks, I took the stand and saw a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who were vocal, energized."

The actress explained that she received hateful messages on social media, saying, "I don't care what one thinks about me or what judgments you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage, behind closed doors. I don't presume the average person should know those things. And so I don't take it personally." She added, "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."

Heard also referenced the UK trial that Depp lost, saying, "There was another trial that dealt with the same substantive issues and had even more evidence in. In fact, my evidence was largely kept out."

Heard concluded the Today interview with a declarative statement. "I made a lot of mistakes," she said, "But I've always told the truth."

Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.