Denying the idea that her claims were a “hoax,” Heard shared that the reason she didn’t initially cooperate with the police was because she “didn’t want this to be known” about her and Depp’s relationship. She added, “I didn’t want to get him in trouble. If it was a hoax, I could’ve done that.”
In the end, Heard filed a temporary restraining order against her ex-husband, who she was married to for nearly two years, in May 2016.
“I made the decision to stand up for myself and protect myself,” she said. “You can’t get a restraining order in private, which of course, I didn’t understand the night when the cops were called.”
In the Today interview, Heard also denied ever tipping off TMZ about her May 2016 appearance at a Los Angeles courthouse to obtain the restraining order, stating that it “had nothing to do with me.” During the trial, a former TMZ producer said that the publication was notified of Heard’s appearance ahead of time and that she would have facial bruising.
When asked why she didn’t have bruising in the days after the alleged incidents with Depp, Heard told Guthrie, “Again, it’s that thing, if you have bruising, if you have injuries, it’s fake. If you don’t have any, then it’s, then you weren’t injured.”
In the end, a Virginia jury awarded $10 million to Depp in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate later reduced the punitive damages to $350,000, which is the state’s statutory cap or legal limit, making his total damages $10.4 million.
As for Heard’s countersuit, the jury awarded the actress $2 million in compensatory damages.
Now, in the wake of the verdict, Heard revealed what she plans to tell her 14-month-old daughter Oonagh about the trial in the future.
“I did the right thing,” Heard said. “I did everything I could to stand up for myself and the truth.”
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