Hollywood actress Amber Heard has given her first interview since a Virginia jury found her guilty of defaming her former husband Johnny Depp, sitting down with NBC journalist Savannah Guthrie to reflect on her side of the story.

The network plans to air excerpts from its blockbuster interview in instalments on 14 and 15 June and in a one-hour Dateline special on 17 June.

What is surprising is not that the Aquaman star is speaking out about her experiences but that her choice of broadcaster to confide in happens to have a known connection to her former husband.

Amber Heard was grilled by Savannah Guthrie over audio that captured her “taunting” ex-husband Johnny Depp in her first interview since the jury handed down its verdict in their defamation trial.

The Aquaman actress spoke out about the case in an interview with NBC’s Today show, part of which aired on Tuesday morning.

The Aquaman star discussed the verdict – which ruled in favour of Depp – in a new interview with NBC’s Today.

In the closing arguments, Depp’s lawyer claimed that Heard had been “acting” and described her testimony as the “performance of a lifetime”.

Responding to the clip, Heard replied: “Says the lawyer for the man who convinced the world he had scissors for fingers? I’m the performer?

Ms Guthrie interviewed Johnny Depp’s lawyers last week and tells Ms Heard that they think their client won the case because she did not take “responsibility for anything she did in the marriage”, whereas he was honest about his problems with drugs and alcohol.

“I did do and say horrible, regrettable things throughout my relationship, I behaved in horrible, almost unrecognisable to myself ways, I have so much regret,” says Ms Heard.

About the relationship she says: “It was ugly, and could be very beautiful, it was very, very toxic. We were awful to each other. I made a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always told the truth.”

Ms Guthrie challenges Ms Heard about her own acts of physical violence during her relationship with Mr Depp, bringing up transcripts and audio recordings from the trial.

“You’re testifying and you’re telling me today, ‘I never started a physical fight,’ and here you are on tape saying you did.”

Ms Heard refers to her testimony that when a person is in an abusive relationship they can take the blame for things they shouldn’t and that things are not necessarily as black and white as one might think.

Pushed again about a similar piece of evidence in which she taunted Mr Depp about telling the world that he was a victim of abuse, she says: “20 second clips or the transcripts of them are not representative of the two or three hours [they] are excerpted from.”

Ms Guthrie asks about Ms Heard’s claim that the case was about the First Amendment right to free speech.

“The First Amendment… doesn’t protect lies that amount to defamation,” says the Today anchor.

Ms Heard responds that it is “a freedom to speak truth to power”.

“But ‘truth’ is the word… And that was the issue,” says Ms Guthrie.

Ms Heard responds: “And that’s all I spoke. I spoke it to power, and I paid the price.”

A spokesperson for Heard offered responded to the news of her first TV interview in a statement to The Independent:

“Johnny Depp’s legal team blanketed the media for days after the verdict with numerous statements and interviews on television, and Depp himself did the same on social media.

“Ms. Heard simply intended to respond to what they aggressively did last week; she did so by expressing her thoughts and feelings, much of which she was not allowed to do on the witness stand.”

Amber Heard has admitted that she understood how the public may view her and ex-husband Johnny Depp as “Hollywood brats”, in an interview with NBC Today Show.

Asked if she felt confident on the day of the verdict, Ms Heard says: “I wish I could say yes to that. I want to say yes to you, but it wouldn’t be true.”

She adds: “Even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t tell me, look me in the eye and tell me that on social media there’s been a fair representation.”