‘Crocodile tears’: Juror speaks out on Amber Heard’s ‘ice cold’ testimony
A juror has revealed what they really thought of Amber Heard’s unbelievable performance on the stand, as the actress maintains she still loves Johnny Depp.
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The ice-cold testimony of Amber Heard wasn’t enough to convince the court her emotional performance on the stand weren’t “crocodile tears”, according to one of the jurors.
One of the seven-member panel broke the jury’s public silence in an interview with Good Morning America to say her claims “didn’t add up”.
“The crying, the facial expressions that she had, the staring at the jury. All of us were very uncomfortable,” said the juror, who was not identified in the interview.
“She would answer one question and she would be crying and two seconds later she would turn ice cold ... some of us used the expression ‘crocodile tears.’”
Depp, meanwhile, kept his composure and remained credible, leaving the jury to feel he was more believable and that it was Heard who was “more the aggressor”.
“He just seemed a little more real in terms of how he was responding to questions. His emotional state was very stable throughout,” the juror said.
The major hit to Heard’s credibility was the “fiasco” revelation she hadn’t donated US$7 million from her divorce settlement to charity as promised.
Heard told the trial that she “pledged the entirety” to the charity, despite earlier telling a talk show in the UK that she had already donated it.
The video shows her sitting there telling the host she gave all that money away. And the terms she used in that video clip were ‘I gave it away,’ ‘I donated it,’ ‘it’s gone.’ But the fact is, she didn’t give much of it away at all,” he said.
“The fact is, she didn’t give much of it away at all.”
The juror also appeared to hit back at claims they were influenced by Depp’s star power and social media coverage of the case, which has been suggested both by Heard and her lawyers.
The juror said while both Heard and Depp were abusive to each other, they followed the evidence - which didn’t ”rise to the level of what she was claiming”.
“Myself and at least two other jurors don’t use Twitter or Facebook. Others who had it made a point not to talk about it,” he claimed.
EXCLUSIVE: A juror in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial said what the jury concluded was "they were both abusive to each other" but Heard’s team failed to prove Depp’s abuse was physical. https://t.co/Ax4SMZUq2Jpic.twitter.com/EMiMeqh5pn
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 16, 2022
It comes after Heard declared she still loves Johnny Depp despite doubling down on her testimony that he viciously abused her during their marriage and claiming that he made good on a promise to globally humiliate her.
In Heard’s first interview since the verdict in the defamation case, NBC Today journalist Savannah Guthrie asked the actress if her pre-trial statement that she has “still (has) love for” Depp stands “after everything”.
“Yes, absolutely,” Heard responded in a teaser of the interview, set to air in full on Friday in the US.
“I love him. I loved him with all my heart and I tried the best I could to make a broken relationship work and I couldn’t.
“I have no bad feelings or ill will towards him at all.
“I know that might be hard to understand or it might be really easy to understand if you've ever loved anyone.”
Heard added that she “stand(s) by every word” of her testimony, including that Depp physically and sexually abused her with a wine bottle during their marriage.
“To my dying day, I will stand by every word in my testimony,” Heard continued.
“I never had to instigate it — I responded to it,” she insisted, saying that audio clips of their fights were edited and caught a victim of abuse whose life was “at risk”.
“When you’re living in violence and it becomes normal — as I testified to — you have to adapt.”
Still, she conceded, “I did do and say horrible, regrettable things throughout my relationship.
“I behaved in horrible, almost unrecognisable to myself, ways.
“I have so much regret,” she said, blaming it on “being pushed to the extent where I didn’t even know the difference between … right and wrong.”
.@SavannahGuthrie: On the first day of the trial you issued a statement, and part of the statement said, 'I still have love for Johnny.'
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 15, 2022
Amber Heard: Yes.
SG: Is that still true?
AH: Yes.
SG: After everything?
AH: Absolutely. I love him. I loved him with all my heart. pic.twitter.com/h49L6XdYuR
HEARD: JURY FELL FOR A ‘FANTASTIC ACTOR’
Heard told Guthrie that she “feels as though” Depp delivered on his promise to subject her to “global humiliation” – as he threatened in a message admitted as evidence in court.
“I’m not a good victim, I get it,” she said.
“I’m not a likeable victim, I’m not a perfect victim.”
The seven-person jury in the high profile trial between Depp and his ex-wife Heard ruled in favour of the Pirates of the Caribbean star after a six week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia on June 1.
The jury found that Heard defamed Depp in a 2018 Washington Post article – in which she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse” – that they agreed was false, defamatory and with malice, on all counts, and awarded him US$15 million damages, comprised of $10m compensatory and a further $5m punitive.
Heard told Guthrie that she doesn’t blame the jury for not believing her testimony.
“I actually understand,” she said.
“He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.
“I’ll put it this way, how could they make a judgment, how could they not come to that conclusion.
“They had said in those seats and heard over three weeks of non-stop, relentless testimony from paid employees and towards the end of the trial, randos, as I say.
“Again, how could they after listening to three-and-a-half weeks of testimony about how I was an uncredible person and not to believe a word that came out of my mouth.”
EXCLUSIVE: @SavannahGuthrie brings up how Johnny Depp's lawyers think he won the case because Amber Heard never took "responsibility for anything she did in the marriage."
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 14, 2022
AH: "I did do and say horrible, regrettable things... but I've always told the truth." pic.twitter.com/TBE6OeeEKn
The Aquaman star said she “would not blame the average person for looking at this and how it’s been covered and not think that it is Hollywood brats at their worst”.
She said the marriage was “ugly” — but also at times “very beautiful.”
“We were awful to each other. I made a lot of mistakes — a lot of mistakes,” she continued.
“But I’ve always told the truth.”
Speaking to journalist Savannah Guthrie – who last week revealed her husband had done consulting work with Depp’s legal team – Heard also commented on the intense scrutiny of her six-week trial and the overwhelming support for Depp on social media. The hashtag “Justice for Amber Heard” garnered 27 million views on TikTok, compared with one for Depp which hit 20 billion views.
“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,” Heard told Guthrie.
“I don’t presume the average person should know those things. And 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.”
#AmberHeard shares with @savannahguthrie that she doesn’t blame the jury: “I don’t blame them. I actually understand. He's a beloved character and people feel they know him. He's a fantastic actor." pic.twitter.com/rjWY629MkG
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 13, 2022
‘BURN THE WITCH’
Heard described the six-week defamation trial as “the most humiliating and horrible thing I’ve ever been through.”
“I have never felt more removed from my own humanity. I felt less than human,” she said.
“Every single day, I passed for three, four sometimes six city blocks lined with people holding signs saying, ‘Burn the witch,’ ‘Death to Amber,’” she said.
“After three-and-a-half weeks I took the stand and saw a courtroom packed full of Captain Jack Sparrow fans who are vocal, energised,” she said, referring to Depp’s “Pirates of the Carribean” character.
The exclusive interview was secretly filmed in New York City on June 9, Deadline reports. To keep the special away from prying eyes, the interview was not filmed at NBC’s iconic 30 Rock building.
The full interview will air on Dateline NBC on Friday at 8pm EST (Saturday 10am AET).
A spokesperson for Heard told News Corp Australia about the interview: “Johnny Depp’s legal team blanketed the media for days after the verdict with numerous statements and interviews on television, and Depp himself did the same on social media.”
“Ms Heard simply intended to respond to what they aggressively did last week; she did so by expressing her thoughts and feelings, much of which she was not allowed to do on the witness stand,” the spokesperson continued in a statement.
Earlier, Depp released a statement in response to the verdict saying “the jury gave me my life back”.
“I am truly humbled,” he continued.
“Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed.
“False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me.
“It had already travelled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career.”
Outside the court, Depp’s lawyers received a rock star reception from the movie star’s fans who cheered for and waved at them, ahead of a press conference.
Speaking to reporters, the legal team thanked the jury for their “careful consideration”.
.@savannahguthrie sat down for an exclusive conversation with #AmberHeard. "You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair,†Heard shared, in reference to social media representation. pic.twitter.com/56Ju7pYg1x
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 13, 2022
Lawyers Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew said Heard’s claims were clearly “defamatory and not supported by any evidence” and that they were “so grateful to the jury for their careful deliberations”. They added that they were “truly honoured” to work with Depp on the case and that it was “now time to turn the page and look to the future”.
Heard won one of her three defamation counterclaims against Depp and was awarded $2 million in damages. The jury found that Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman defamed her when he told the Daily Mail she set up Depp in a hoax when the police came to their apartment in May 2016.
Heard appeared downtrodden and was pictured hugging her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft before leaving the court.
In a statement to News Corp Australia following the verdict, Heard said she was disappointed “beyond words”.
“I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband,” Heard said.
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.
“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.
“I’m sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.”
Meanwhile, Heard has denied reports she’s been dumped from the Aquaman sequel following the verdict.
A spokesperson for the actor denied Heard’s role had been recast, slamming the rumour as “inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane.”
During the trial, Heard’s agent, Jessica Kovacevic, testified Warner Bros. was considering replacing Heard due to lack of chemistry with the film’s star, Jason Momoa, and not because of the court case.
Throughout the trial, millions of Depp fans signed a Change.org petition for Heard to be recast in her role as Mera.
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