Actress responds to accusations of ‘taunting’ Johnny Depp and addresses explosive trial recordings in NBC interview.

In her first interview since losing the defamation case against Johnny Depp, Amber Heard was grilled by NBC’s Savannah Guthrie about audio recordings played during the trial, which some claimed showed her “taunting” her ex-husband. The Aquaman star appeared on Today on Tuesday morning to address the trial’s aftermath and the controversy surrounding her remarks.

Heard was questioned about audio clips presented in court, where she was heard mocking Depp by suggesting he could tell the world he was a “victim of domestic violence.” Guthrie pressed the actress on the tapes, asking why she would say such things if she was truly a victim of abuse. “Those twenty-second clips don’t represent the full context of the hours of conversations they were extracted from,” Heard responded, explaining that she was speaking from a place of intense emotional, psychological, and physical distress.

The conversation turned to the tapes where Heard acknowledged starting physical altercations. Guthrie read a transcript where Heard reportedly admitted, “I started a physical fight,” prompting a strong reaction from the host. “But you’re telling me you never started a physical fight?” Guthrie asked, pointing out the contradiction between Heard’s testimony and the recorded evidence.

Heard defended her words, claiming that in such situations of abuse, “you don’t have the resources” to clearly process things in the way others might, stressing the complexities of being in an abusive relationship. “When your life is at risk, you will take the blame for things you shouldn’t,” she said. The actress further claimed that the audio had been “edited” before being leaked online, and insisted the recordings were not evidence of abuse but of a “negotiation” with her alleged abuser.

The trial, which centred around Depp’s defamation lawsuit over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed where Heard described herself as a victim of domestic violence, brought both parties’ accusations of abuse to the forefront. During the trial, both Heard and Depp presented audio recordings that seemed to show them both acknowledging acts of aggression. One particularly explosive clip, played for the jury, featured Heard saying, “Tell them, I, Johnny Depp, I’m a victim of domestic abuse… and see how many people believe or side with you.”

Heard’s comments come after a tense, six-week trial in which a jury found her guilty of defaming Depp, awarding him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, later reduced to $350,000. Heard’s counterclaim, however, saw her winning $2 million in damages for a defamatory statement made by Depp’s lawyer.

Heard described the trial’s verdict as a “setback” for women who come forward with allegations of abuse, and her lawyer confirmed plans to appeal. She also acknowledged her difficulty in affording the damages, which total $8.35 million after the jury’s decision.

Heard’s interview with Guthrie marks her first public comments since the trial ended, and comes just days after Guthrie disclosed her husband’s connection to Depp’s legal team, a fact she had not previously mentioned during her interviews with Depp’s attorneys.