Amber Heard gave testimony during the trial. Photo / AP
Amber Heard gave testimony during the trial. Photo / AP
Amber Heard has admitted to having "regret" over the way she acted during her relationship with Johnny Depp, but stands by her claims that he abused her.
Heard was ordered to pay US$15 million (NZ$23m) to Depp after losing their bombshell defamation trial, but is refusing to back down.
The36-year-old star branded Depp, 59, a "liar" in a new television interview and claimed the jury were persuaded by viral social media posts mocking her.
Asked whether she stood by her accusations against Depp, she told NBC's Today show: "To my dying day, I will stand by every word in my testimony."
During the second instalment of her three-part interview in the wake of the trial, Heard admitted she "made a lot of mistakes" during her marriage to Depp.
"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.
"I've talked about the horrible language, I've talked about being pushed to the extent that I didn't know the difference between right and wrong.
Amber Heard is complaining records including medical records were not lodged as evidencein her defamation trial against Johnny Depp. Photo / AP
"I will always continue to feel like I was part of this like I was the other half of this relationship because I was. And it was very ugly, it could be very beautiful, and it was very toxic.
"We were awful to each other and I made a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes, but I've always told the truth."
The actress also admitted that the feuding couple came across as "brats" during the court battle. "I 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.
Heard described walking past people chanting "death to Amber Heard" and "burn the witch" as she arrived at court. She said the trial was "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.
Responding to claims from Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez that Heard put on "the performance of a lifetime" during her time on the stand, the actress hit back by referring to Depp's performance in 1990 movie Edward Scissorhands.
"Says the lawyer for the man who convinced the world he had scissors for fingers.
"I'm the performer? I had listened to weeks of testimony insinuating, or saying quite directly, that I'm a terrible actress. So I'm a bit confused how I could be both."
Amber Heard interview on NBC's Today Show. Photo / NBC
But Heard, 36, went on to blast the verdict as "unfair", and accused Depp of winning over the jury by putting "paid employees and randos" on the stand.
"I'll put it this way, how could they make a judgement, how could they not come to that conclusion," Heard said.
"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."
Depp was awarded US$15 million ($23m) in damages after the jury ruled that Heard had defamed him by referring to herself as "public figure representing domestic abuse" in an op-ed for the Washington Post in 2018.
Heard did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser.
US actor Johnny Depp arrives at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse. Photo / AP
Heard later countersued claiming that Depp's lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed her by saying her abuse claims were a "hoax". The jury awarded her $2 million ($3.2m).
"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 said.
"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."
Since the trial, Depp has signed up for TikTok and has otherwise been busying himself by playing gigs with Jeff Beck.
A spokesperson for Heard said of 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."
