NBC
On Wednesday, Today aired the second part of an exclusive interview with actress Amber Heard – her first televised meeting after losing an explosive defamation lawsuit against her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp. Among other revelations, the 36-year-old woman claims she still “loves” Depp and has denied wanting to “undo” him in her article at the center of the case.
During the trial in Virginia, which ended on June 1, the jury ruled that Hurd slandered Depp when The Washington Post published a 2018 publication under her author, describing herself as a victim of domestic violence. Depp received $ 15 million in damages, but will receive only $ 10.35 million due to the state’s restriction on criminal damages. The jury also awarded Hurd $ 2 million in damages after finding that she had been slandered by Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, after he accused Hurd of misleading Depp.
Despite winning this particular counterclaim, as well as the UK lawsuit in 2020, which found that Depp abused Hurd 12 out of 14 times, Hurd is largely portrayed as a liar in the eyes of the Legion of obsessively devoted fans of Depp on social media and his Hollywood peers since she first claimed abuse in 2016. Similarly, Guthrie seemed skeptical of the Aquaman star during their one-on-one pitch, pushing her to record and more. evidence presented by Depp’s team, while ignoring much of the records and other evidence offered by Hurd. (The trial in the United Kingdom received significantly more evidence than in Virginia, which may help explain the different outcome.)
In the first half of Monday’s interview, the news anchor told the actress if she had instigated physical violence against Depp, questioned her about records that Hurd claimed were out of context, and informed her that the First Amendment did not protect “lies.” “. At the end of the interview, Guthrie seemed equally cynical and dissatisfied with Hurd’s answers, telling the actress that her “hint” of Depp in her post was “infallible.” She also asked Hurd if she had warned TMZ to photograph her with bruises when she filed a restraining order against Depp in 2016. For the most part, her interrogation did not go beyond information that had not yet been raised during the trial and challenged by Hurd, and there was a complete lack of insight into the abuse.
The story continues
The jury reveals why they sided with Johnny Depp
This is not the first time a TV presenter has been insensitive to domestic violence or knows how survivors adapt to situations of violence with their partners. (Watch Barbara Walters’ interview with Rihanna after her incident with Chris Brown or Gail King interviewed FKA Twigs for her accusations against Shaya LaBeouf). However, viewers and journalists are stunned by the fact that Guthrie was allowed to interview Hurd in the first place.
A week earlier, Guthrie revealed that her husband, Michael Feldman, had worked as an adviser to Depp’s legal team during the defamation trial just before he began interviewing Depp’s lawyers, Camille Vazquez and Benjamin Chu. The interview went viral on Twitter and was met with an immediate response from users claiming a conflict of interest.
“If I were an Amber Heard publicist or PR person, I probably wouldn’t have given my client’s first big interview with someone who revealed a conflict of interest,” one Twitter user wrote.
“If Guthrie wants to continue doing these interviews, TODAY must make much bigger disclaimers that Guthrie, through her husband’s consulting concert, was personally enriched by Depp’s PR team,” said another. “The obvious conflict of interest is so disrespectful to Ms. Hurd.”
Since then, journalism experts have assessed the controversy in a Business Insider report, calling Guthrie’s decision to interview Depp’s lawyers “a little crazy” and emphasizing “financial collateral”, seeing how Feldman could be used again when Hurd wants to appeal the jury’s verdict.
The 12-year-old received a medal for protection against Ezra Miller
While Hurd and her representatives have not yet spoken on the dispute, sources in the same article say Hurd and her team were aware of Guthrie’s connection to the case and were ready to continue the interview, which will end with a one-hour special broadcast. on Dateline on Friday.
Although it is difficult to imagine the thought process behind arranging this interview and using it in a subsequent editorial, it is possible that Hurd, who was publicly sympathetic to the jury and Depp supporters, wanted to show the public that she could participate. in a kind conversation with someone closely associated with her ill-wishers. Still, it seems strange and extremely unscrupulous that Hurd’s team will allow their client to be subjected to Guthrie’s poor, impartial interrogation of her first major television appearance since the trial, given the number of reporters likely trying to get exclusive with an actress.
Regardless of the intent or any knowledge that Hurd and her team received before the interview, the fact that Hurd spent most of the meeting defending himself against widely publicized allegations is another tragedy for the actress, whose status when the question of the forthcoming sequel to Aquaman remains in the air. After all, the saddest part of a fiasco is how completely it can be avoided.
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