Could Johnny Depp pursue further legal action against Amber Heard following comments she made in her first post-trial interview? Some analysts say publicly doubling down on claims already found defamatory could give Depp grounds to ask the court to make her stop.
What three words did experts note as risky for Heard to use in her case for several reasons? And how could her remarks give Depp legal options moving forward?
While talking to Savannah Guthrie for TODAY in her first interview since receiving an unfavorable verdict, Heard reiterated her abuse claims. She talked about her “ugly” marriage and said she’ll stand by her testimony for the rest of her life.
Furthermore, Heard claimed that Depp lied when he denied the abuse. But she also used one phrase that some legal analysts think could carry some potential risk. That’s the idea of speaking “truth to power.”
Heard said truth is all she spoke and added, “I spoke it to power. And I paid the price.”
Attorney Gary Williams told Law & Crime that she should “be careful” using those words because they carry so much weight. “We in this nation have to be honest about the conversation when we talk about truth to power,” he said.
He explained the phrase is common in talks about civil rights and equality. But he added the words “mean more than what she’s saying.”
Legal commentator Emily D. Baker noted that Heard’s claim of speaking truth to power and paying the price is close in meaning to one claim found defamatory from her 2018 op-ed: “Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”
“I am waiting to see a motion for injunction,” Baker noted, meaning team Depp would request recourse from the court to compel Heard to stop making such comments.