Heard says Depp's lawyers did 'a better job of distracting the jury from the real issues'

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By Carina Murphy

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Amber Heard has hit out at Johnny Depp's lawyers.

The 36-year-old Aquaman star reflected on the recent high-profile legal battle between herself and her ex-husband in a sit-down interview with NBC News' Savannah Guthrie.

The interview - which aired earlier today - is the first time Heard has spoken about the court case in person since the jury announced that they had sided against her, and awarded her ex-husband over $10 million in damages.

During the conversation, Heard references Depp's libel case against UK newspaper The Sun, saying: "There was another trial, dealt with the same substantive issues that had even more evidence in."

She then says that in her recent defamation trial against Depp "really important pieces of evidence" were "kept out".

Guthrie then asks Heard: "Do you think [Depp] just had better lawyers?"

"I will say his lawyers did certainly a better job of distracting the jury from the real issues," Heard told Guthrie.

She went on to say that she didn't blame the jury for the verdict they'd delivered - but implied that they had been manipulated by Depp's acting abilities and the public persona his legal team played up to.

"I actually understand. He’s a beloved character and people feel they know him, he’s a fantastic actor," she said.

"A vast majority of this trial was played out on social media; I think that this trial is an example of that going amok, and the jury is not immune to that," HEard continued.

When asked by Guthrie whether she thought the jury had seen the social media activity of the trial - which was overwhelmingly skewed in Depp's favor - Heard responded: "How could they not?"

"I think even the most well-intentioned juror, it would have been impossible to avoid this," she added.

"I don’t care what one thinks about me, what judgments you make about what happened in the privacy of my own home, in my marriage behind closed doors… I don't presume the average person should know those things, so I don't take it personally," Heard continued.

"But even somebody who is sure I’m deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media there’s been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair."

Part two of the NBC interview is scheduled to air on Wednesday (June 15) on the network's Today show. The full-length interview will be released two days later on Friday (June 17) on Dateline NBC.

Featured Image Credit: REUTERS / Alamy.