Most commonly known for her most recent casting role in the 2018 film, Aquaman, 36-year-old actress Amber Heard previously filed a lawsuit against her former husband, Johnny Depp, for domestic abuse allegations. After a lengthy trial, the judge and jury both made the executive decision that the popular Pirates of the Caribbean star was innocent of his accused actions, along with specifically stating that they did not “buy her crocodile tears,” according to one unmanned juror. Heard was then found guilty of defaming Depp by falsely accusing him of domestic and sexual abuse; Johnny received $5 million in punitive damages on top of an additional $10 million in compensatory damages.
Heard remained silent after the verdict was initially published, however, she recently had her first interview with television presenter Savannah Guthrie where she had plenty to get off her chest. The young actress went on to express how her trial was “the most humiliating and horrible thing,” along with making her “less than human.” She also told Guthrie, “I would not blame the average person for looking at this, and how it has been covered and thinking that it is Hollywood brats at their worst… What people do not understand is it is actually so much bigger than that. This is about our First Amendment right to speak.”
With Johnny being reasonably silent after the trial had concluded, Heard continued vocalizing her side of the story and the way this entire situation has affected her. “I believe Johnny’s attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK,” she stated in a previous Instagram post. “I am sad I lost this case. But I am sadder that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.”