Amber Heard 'absolutely' still loves Johnny Depp

Amber Heard said she still loves her ex-husband Johnny Depp, despite her crushing defeat in their mammoth defamation case.

Amber Heard said she was treated "unfairly" by the public throughout the trial.

Warning: Domestic violence

Amber Heard has declared she still loves her ex-husband Johnny Depp, but worries he may sue her again. 

Earlier this month the Aquaman actress, 36, was found to have defamed Depp by describing herself as a victim of domestic violence in an opinion piece she wrote. While she never mentioned him by name, Depp claimed the piece was about him. He sued for libel, won, and Heard was ordered to pay him US$10m.

In her first interview since the case concluded, Heard said Depp taking her to court was humiliating, and she insisted she still loves him.

.@SavannahGuthrie: On the first day of the trial you issued a statement, and part of the statement said, 'I still have love for Johnny.'

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

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 15, 2022

“Absolutely. I love him. I loved him with all my heart,” Heard told NBC’s Today show. “I tried the best I could to make a deeply broken relationship work. And I couldn’t. I have no bad feelings or ill will toward him at all.

“I know that might be hard to understand, or it might be really easy to understand. If you’ve just ever loved anyone, it should be easy.”

Heard grilled over donations

Guthrie put Heard on the spot about "being caught in a lie" over her pledge to donate her $7m divorce settlement to charity asking whether the actress believed that "raised questions" over the credibility.

“You had promised to donate $7m of your divorce settlement to charity,” said Ms Guthrie.

“It was revealed at trial that you haven’t done so yet however they played a tape where you state on air that you have donated it.”

During the trial the courtroom was shown a snippet from Heard’s appearance on Danish TV show RTL Late Night in October 2018, where she said that “$7m was donated in total”.

“I split the amount between the ACLU and CHLA. ACLU is a prominent non-profit organisation in the US and they work on the behalf of marginalised communities on the ground, and in legislative reform,” she said on the show. “I wanted nothing.”

But during Wednesday’s interview, Heard staunchly denied accusations she had lied, and said the plan had been for the donations to be paid out over time.

“I made a pledge and that pledge is made over time by its nature,” she said.

At this point, Ms Guthrie interjected that to use the term “donated” people expect the money to have been paid out.

“You say donated you know that everybody thinks you’d donated – not that you’ve pledged it,” the journalist said.

“I don’t know because so much, I feel like so much of the trial was meant to cast aspersions on who I am as a person, on my credibility, to call me a liar in every way you can,” Heard countered.

The actress also revealed she doesn’t blame the jury for ruling in favour of Depp.

“I don’t blame them,” Heard said in a preview of the interview with NBC’s Today show set to air later this week.

“I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”

Heard has conducted the exclusive interview with journalist Savannah Guthrie, whose husband had provided PR consultations to Depp and his legal team.

While she said she doesn't blame the jury for coming to their conclusion, she said she was treated unfairly by the public - especially those online - throughout the trial.

If you were anywhere on TikTok, you'd know the #JusticeforJohnnyDepp hashtag went gangbusters with an equal amount of anti-Heard and pro-Johnny content. There was no popular hashtag created in Heard's favour.

“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 said.

“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.”

The full interview will air later this week.

A spokesperson for Heard told News Corp Australia about the forthcoming 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 six-week trial between the former spouses detailed allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence and drug use. The jury were privvy to testimony from both Depp and Heard, along with a swathe of first-hand and expert witnesses. 

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.”

Johnny Depp won his defamation case against Amber Heard earlier this month.

In a statement 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.”