How Dakota Johnson Really Felt About Being Brought Into Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's Trial

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Dakota Johnson reacted to a YouTube clip that went viral during Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation case.

By Mike Vulpo Jun 30, 2022 6:50 PMTags
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Dakota Johnson doesn't want anything to do with her former co-star Johnny Depp's legal situation. 

For the past two months, the actor and Amber Heard's defamation case captivated the world—and somehow included a viral video online titled "The EXACT moment Dakota Johnson KNEW Amber Heard was VIOLENT towards Johnny Depp."

In the clip, which was not part of evidence, Depp appeared to show his injured finger to Johnson while they were promoting Black Mass at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. The attention caused Johnson to fear she may be called to testify.

"I was like, ‘For the love of God, why? Why am I involved in this?'" she told Vanity Fair. "I don't remember that at all, but please, take me out of this. Don't let this go further. Can you imagine, oh, my God, if I was called to the witness stand?"

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During the trial, Depp testified that his severed finger tip was allegedly caused by Heard during a fight they had in Australia in March 2015. Depp claimed Heard threw a vodka bottle at him and it shattered on his hand. She denied the accusation.

George Pimentel/WireImage

If you ask Johnson, she was shocked to see just how many people were glued to the case. "I can't believe that people are watching [the trial] like it's a show," she told the publication. "It's like a courtroom drama and my heart breaks. It's so, so, so crazy. Humans are so f--king weird. The Internet is a wild, wild place."

After 13 hours of deliberations, the jury awarded $10 million to Depp in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate later reduced the punitive damages to $350,000, which is the state's statutory cap or legal limit, making his total damages to less than $10.4 million.

As for Heard's countersuit, the jury awarded the actress $2 million in compensatory damages.

In her new interview, Johnson also discussed the trend of cancel culture. While she didn't mention Depp or Heard by name, Johnson argued that people can evolve and change over time.

"What I struggle with in terms of cancel culture is the term cancel culture—the whole concept behind canceling a human being, like they're an appointment," she said. "No person will not make mistakes in their life. The point of being alive is figuring it out. Hurting other people, harming other people is not okay. There are consequences for those actions. But the concept of the Twitterverse deciding if someone just all of a sudden doesn't exist anymore is horrifying, heartbreaking and wrong."

She also reminded readers to look at the broader population. "Twitter makes up like, what, 12 percent of the world?" Johnson, who doesn't have an account, said. "I mean, some of these people can't even spell."

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