Part two of an exclusive interview with actress Amber Heard aired on Today on Wednesday—her first televised sit-down since losing an explosive defamation trial against her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp. In her op-ed at the core of the case, the 36-year-old claimed that she still "loved" Depp and denied trying to "cancel" him, among other things.A jury found Heard defamed Depp when The Washington Post published an op-ed under her byline in 2018 presenting herself as a victim of domestic abuse. The trial in West Virginia ended on June 1. Depp was granted $15 million in damages, but due to a state cap on punitive damages, he will only receive $10.35 million. After ruling that Depp's attorney, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard by accusing her of framing Depp in a "hoax," the jury awarded her $2 million in compensatory damages.
Despite winning that counterclaim, as well as a trial in the United Kingdom in 2020 that found Depp had abused Heard on 12 of 14 occasions, Depp's legion of obsessively devoted fans on social media and his Hollywood peers have largely painted Heard as a liar in the public eye since she first alleged abuse in 2016. Similarly, Guthrie sounded skeptical of the Aquaman star throughout their one-on-one, interrogating her about Team Depp's tapes and other evidence while conveniently disregarding most of Heard's recordings and other evidence. (The trial in the United Kingdom admitted far more evidence than the one in West Virginia, which may explain why the results were so different.)The news anchor probed the actress on whether she initiated physical violence against Depp, questioned her about recordings that she alleges were taken out of context, and informed her that the First Amendment does not protect "falsehoods" in the first half of the interview, which aired on Monday. Guthrie was similarly skeptical and dissatisfied with Heard's responses at the end of the conversation, telling the actress that her "allusion" to Depp in her op-ed was "unmistakable." When she sought a restraining order against Depp in 2016, she also asked Heard if she told TMZ to snap images of her with a bruise. Her interrogation, for the most part, didn't go beyond information that had already been brought during the trial and refuted by Heard, and was utterly devoid of any insight into abuse.
It's not the first time a television personality has been insensitive to the subject of domestic abuse or has shown a lack of understanding of how survivors cope with violent situations with their relationships. (See Barbara Walters' interview with Rihanna after her incident with Chris Brown, or Gayle King's interview with FKA Twigs after her allegations against Shia LaBeouf.) However, the idea that Guthrie was permitted to interview Heard in the first place continues to astound viewers and journalists.
Prior to beginning an interview with Depp's attorneys Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew, Guthrie revealed that her husband, Michael Feldman, acted as an adviser for Depp's legal team during the defamation trial. The interview went viral on Twitter, prompting outrage from those who claimed a conflict of interest.
"I probably wouldn't grant Amber Heard's first huge interview with someone who revealed a conflict of interest if I were her publicist or PR person," one Twitter user said.
"If Guthrie is to continue doing these interviews, TODAY needs to include far larger disclosures that Guthrie was financially profited by the Depp PR team through her husband's consultancy position," wrote another. "Ms. Heard is so disrespected by the blatant conflict of interest."
In a Business Insider piece, journalism experts have weighed in on the topic, calling Guthrie's choice to interview Depp's lawyers "a touch nuts" and pointing to a "financial stake," given that Feldman might be used again if Heard wants to appeal the jury judgment.
While neither Heard nor her representatives have commented on the controversy, sources quoted in the same article claim that Heard and her team were both aware of Guthrie's involvement in the case and were willing to go ahead with the interview, which will be followed by an hour-long Dateline special on Friday.
While it's difficult to imagine the thought process behind the scheduling of this interview and its subsequent use in an editorial, it's possible that Heard, who has been publicly compassionate toward the jury and Depp's supporters, wanted to demonstrate to the public that she could have a civil conversation with someone close to her critics. Given the number of journalists undoubtedly waiting at the bit to land an exclusive with Heard, it seems unusual and exceedingly ill-advised that Heard's team would allow their client to be subjected to Guthrie's terrible, unbiased questioning for her first major televised appearance post-trial.
Regardless of Heard's intent or the information she and her team had before to the interview, the fact that she spent the majority of the time defending herself against well reported charges is yet another tragedy for the actress, whose fate in the impending Aquaman sequel remains uncertain. Finally, the most tragic aspect of the disaster is how easily it could have been avoided.
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