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Amber Heard in a file photo Image Credit: AP
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Amber Heard says she doesn’t blame the fans for siding with Johnny Depp through their recently concluded defamation trial, calling her ex-husband a ‘beloved character’ during her first sit-down interview.

The Hollywood actress, during an interview with Savannah Guthrie of NBC’s ‘Today’ show, also spoke about the vitriol that had been directed at her all through the trail, while also understanding why the seven-member Virginia jury favoured Depp in their verdict.

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An image released by NBC News with Savannah Guthrie and Amber Heard Image Credit: AP

“I don’t blame them,” Heard told Guthrie in a video clip that has been released. “I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him. He’s a fantastic actor.”

However, the actress did take objection to the treatment that she was subjected to on social media and fan clubs through the six-week saga. “I don’t care what one thinks about me or what judgements you want to make about what happened in the privacy of my home, in my marriage, behind closed doors,” Heard says in the clip. “I don’t presume the average person should know those things. And so I don’t take it personally.

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Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in a file photo Image Credit: AP

“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.”

Last month, the seven-person jury in Virginia ruled that Heard defamed the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star through an editorial she wrote for ‘The Washington Post’ and awarded him $10.35 million (Dh38 million) in damages. The jury also determined that Heard was defamed, awarding her $2 million.

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Fans of actor Johnny Depp yell at fans of Amber Heard moments after Depp arrived at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., Friday morning. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford Image Credit: The Washington Post

The 2018 op-ed that was published under Heard’s byline saw the ‘Aquaman’ star speak about being a victim of domestic abuse, without naming Depp. However, the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star responded saying it was implied that she was pointing a finger at him and filed a defamation lawsuit in the state of Virginia.

Depp had previously lost a similar case in the UK after he battled The Sun over an article which called him a ‘wifebeater’. In that case a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to back up the allegation.

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FILE - Actor Amber Heard hugs her lawyer Elaine Bredehoft after the verdict was read at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va, on June 1, 2022. Heard says she doesn’t blame the jury that awarded Johnny Depp more than $10 million after a contentious six-week libel trial in her first post-verdict interview. She told Savannah Guthrie of “Today” in a clip airing Monday that she understood how the jury reached its conclusion and said Depp is a “beloved character and people feel they know him.” (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP, File) Image Credit: AP

Heard plans on appealing the jury’s decision according to her attorneys.

Meanwhile, the full interview with Heard will air on the network on June 15.