AMBER Heard said the “hate and vitriol” she suffered on social media during her libel trial against Johnny Depp was not “fair”, but insisted she did not blame the jury for largely siding with her ex-husband in an interview released yesterday.

After a six-week legal tussle, a United States jury awarded Depp more than US$10 million (RM44 million) in damages for defamation in contrast to just US$2 million for Heard, who counter-sued.

The case, live-streamed to millions, featured lurid and intimate details about the celebrities’ private lives, throughout which Heard was targeted by internet memes and social media posts.

“I do not presume the average person should know those things. And so I do not take it personally,” Heard told NBC in her first major interview since the verdict.

“But even somebody who is sure I am deserving of all this hate and vitriol, even if you think that I am lying, you still cannot look me in the eye and tell me that you think there has been a fair representation on social media,” she said in a clip from the interview, which airs in full on NBC News’ Dateline on Friday.

“You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.”

Depp sued Heard over a Washington Post op-ed in which she did not name him, but described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.

Heard counter-sued after Depp’s lawyer described her abuse claims as a “hoax”.

Online public opinion during the trial appeared to come down heavily on Depp’s side, with Heard’s lawyers accusing his legal team of working to “demonise” her.

Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft said the Aquaman star wants to appeal the verdict.

“How can they make a judgment? How can they not come to that conclusion?” Heard asked in the interview.

“I do not blame them. I actually understand he is a beloved character. And people feel they know him. He is a fantastic actor.”

When interviewer Savannah Guthrie suggested it is the jury’s duty to not be swayed by Depp’s A-list status, Heard said: “Again, how can they (not be) – after listening to three and a half weeks of testimony about how I am a non-credible person – to not believe a word that came out of my mouth?” – AFP, June 14, 2022.