Amber Heard’s ‘Dateline’ interview about Johnny Depp trial scores lackluster ratings
During her tell-all “Dateline NBC” interview with Savannah Guthrie, Amber Heard stood firmly by her testimony, presented a binder of allegations against ex-husband Johnny Depp and shared that she still loves the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor.
The Friday interview, however, was far from a ratings bonanza for NBC despite Heard’s post-trial reflections and revelations.
The one-on-one conversation between Guthrie and the embattled “Aquaman” actor delivered a 0.3 rating in the key demographic of viewers ages 18-49 and 2.3 million viewers, per Nielsen. Heard’s appearance struggled to elevate “Dateline” past its normal ratings and brought in the show’s second-smallest audience since November, according to TVLine.
The biggest takeaways from Amber Heard’s interview on NBC’s “Dateline” about the trial with Johnny Depp.
Leading up to the special, NBC teased numerous buzzy snippets of the Q&A. But come Friday, the episode couldn’t quite live up to the hype, even falling behind a repeat episode of ABC’s “20/20,” which garnered 2.6 million viewers.
Ratings-wise, the interview struggled to capture the eyeballs that closely watched the defamation trial in Fairfax, Va., which concluded earlier this month after six weeks. Depp sued ex-wife Heard for $50 million, alleging she had defamed him with a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. She later countersued Depp for defamation, seeking $100 million.
On June 1, jurors awarded $15 million in damages to Depp and $2 million in damages to Heard. However, adhering to Virginia’s statutory cap, Judge Penney Azcarate reduced Depp’s award to approximately $10.4 million.
Has Amber Heard already said too much about her defamation fight with Johnny Depp? With her full NBC News interview coming tonight, experts weigh in.
Throughout the court proceedings, which began in April, social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram became a breeding ground for seemingly endless pro-Depp and anti-Heard memes and videos about the public trial.
Just hours after the “Dateline” interview aired on NBC, YouTube users posted their own reactions. Some deemed the interview “vindictive,” a “flop” and a “bust,” while others tried to analyze Heard’s body language. Similarly, the “Dateline” episode spawned numerous anti-Heard responses from Depp supporters on Twitter.
Still, Heard said that she “loved [Depp] with all my heart.”
“I tried the best I could do to make a deeply broken relationship work, and I couldn’t,” Heard told Guthrie.
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