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On Friday, June 17, Amber Heard's Dateline interview with Savannah Guthrie was dropped, where the actress expressed her fear of being sued by ex-husband Johnny Depp again. She insinuated that a defamation lawsuit's purpose is to take someone's voice.
In the interview, Heard further dismissed Johnny Depp's claims about not hitting her. Meanwhile, she addressed the allegations of her falsified testimony and disclosed that she would stand by the claims she made during the trial.
In the seven-week-long defamation trial, the verdict favored Depp. The jury agreed with all three counts of the actor's claims, and he was awarded $10.35 million. Meanwhile, the Aquaman star received $2 million in damages after the jury agreed to one count of her claims.
What did Amber Heard say about her fear of being sued by Johnny Depp in the interview?
In the interview, Savannah Guthrie asked Amber Heard whether she was afraid of being sued by Johnny Depp again for defamation. The 36-year-old actress responded:
"I'm terrified…"
The Texas native further claimed she was being silenced by the fear of further legal actions against her. Heard told Guthrie:
"I'm scared that no matter what I do, no matter what I say or how I say it, every step that I take will present another opportunity for this sort of silencing…Which is what I guess a defamation lawsuit is meant to do. It's meant to take your voice."
Can Amber Heard be sued again by Johnny Depp for further defamation?
In the interview with Guthrie, Heard refuted Depp's claims in the trial and further alleged that the actor s*xually and domestically abused her. Following her claims, pro-Depp supporters took to social media to express how she could be sued again by the Pirates of the Caribbean star.
Scott Reisch of Crime Talk and Reisch Law Firm says Heard can be sued again
In his reaction to the claims made by Amber Heard in the Dateline interview, the attorney and YouTuber said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, you can be sued for defamation again if you repeat the same allegations that someone could determine to be false. And, you can be sued again."
According to Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, the plaintiff (i.e., Johnny Depp, if he decides to sue Amber Heard again) would need to prove damages caused to his reputation following the actress' claims in the post-trial interview. The publication states that Depp would need to prove that Heard's remarks in the Dateline interview were false statements spoken as a fact. This part is not difficult to prove, as the recent verdict of their defamation trial proved it.
Furthermore, Depp has to prove that the actress' recent defamatory comments damaged his reputation further. However, this might not be easy to prove considering the counter-argument that may come from Heard about Depp's boost in support from fans and even Hollywood stars like Robert Downey Jr.
There are also reports of the RDJ's campaign for Depp to be cast in Warner Bros. Discovery's upcoming installment of the Sherlock Holmes series, which may be brought up in the scenario of a new lawsuit.
As of now, it is unknown if Johnny Depp will sue Amber Heard again, but the actress' lawyer has announced their plans to appeal the verdict of the defamation trial.
