Savannah Guthrie grilled Amber Heard over her testimony in the Depp v. Heard defamation trial in part one of an interview on Today. In this first installment, which aired on Tuesday, the Today host dug into the actor’s claims that she was abused by Depp. Guthrie tells Heard that “the First Amendment doesn’t protect lies that amount to defamation†and bases her questions on arguments brought forth by Depp’s legal team. She asks Heard about audio tapes — clips from an infamous fight in Australia that resulted in Depp’s finger injury — played for the jury in which Heard said that she “hit†Depp. Arguing that the clips show “no evidence†of what happened, Heard claims that the audio is “evidence of a negotiation of how to talk about that with your abuser.†Although Heard says that the situation was complicated, Guthrie goes on. “I’m looking at a transcription that says he says, ‘You start physical fights,’ and you say, ‘I did start a physical fight. I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again.’ This is in black and white,†she says.
“As I testified on the stand about this, when your life is at risk, not only will you take the blame for things that you shouldn’t take the blame for, but when you’re in an abusive dynamic — psychologically, emotionally, and physically — you don’t have the resources that, say, you or I do, with the luxury of saying, ‘Hey, this is black and white,’ because it’s anything but when you’re living in it,†Heard responds. Guthrie continues to press Heard about lying. “To my dying day, I will stand by every word of my testimony,†Heard insists. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. A lot of mistakes. But I’ve always told the truth.†The conversation is more complicated than Guthrie acknowledged in this first part, especially when you consider that Guthrie’s husband, PR consultant Michael Feldman, advises Depp and his legal counsel. It’s not a secret — the morning-show host shared this information ahead of a June 8 interview with Depp’s lawyers Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez. “A quick disclosure: My husband has done consulting work for the Depp legal team, but not in connection with this interview,†Guthrie said. However, once seated with Heard, she did not provide the same kind of disclosure. Maybe Heard wanted to sit across from a woman whose husband played a role in her losing a lawsuit to her allegedly abusive ex. Guess that’s in part two?
Vulture has reached out to NBC for comment.