This Morning viewers blasted the ITV programme’s coverage of the Johnny Depp $100 million defamation case with his former wife Amber Heard as “biased” on Thursday.
Depp is suing Heard for more than £38 million, saying her domestic abuse claims have harmed his career and reputation.
The actress, 35, has filed a countersuit against Depp, 58, seeking almost £78 million in damages and saying his legal team falsely accused her of fabricating claims against the actor.
The actor gave evidence on Tuesday as part of his civil defamation claim against his ex-wife in Fairfax, Virginia, telling the jury her claims of abuse had created “six years of trying times.”
“It’s very strange when one day you’re Cinderella so to speak then 0.6 seconds later you’re Quasimodo,” he said.
This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby spoke with entertainment reporter Sam Rubin from Los Angeles about the sensational trial, which is being televised in the US.
Phillip’s initial line of questioning focused on Depp’s “slow” delivery as he took the stand, saying: “His delivery is incredibly slow and measured - almost to the point where the media can’t get good soundbites from him - whereas, I assume she will be much more succinct.”
Rubin replied saying that Depp seems “rattled” to him, noting that he is indeed “not a medical professional” himself.
He continued: “It reminds me quite candidly of conversations I’ve had over the years with someone like Ozzy Osbourne, where the years of abuse of a variety of substances and alcohol have taken their toll.
“He speaks in a very slow, halting fashion. It takes him a really long time to get anything out, so I wonder how much the jury is going to be paying attention.
“He’s been on the stand for two full days. l we assume Amber will be briefer in her remarks.”
Back in the studio, Phillip said: “We should probably point out - they are a fairly litigious couple, so we’ll say we don’t know why he’s speaking so slowly on the stand. It could be just that he’s thinking very carefully about what he says.”
But This Morning viewers were left fuming by the segment, as the presenters did not consider Depp’s “trauma” in recounting his own claims of domestic abuse to the jury.
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: “No. He’s clearly traumatised and now he has to relive the whole experience again.”
A second posted: “I hate the UK media's coverage of the court case, it’s like they don’t want to listen to Johnny’s side at all. His delivery is nothing to do with drugs and drink, it's recounting his story with care and clarity.”
Another viewer posted: “Very rich of them to sit there and judge Johnny Depp when they both like to act as advocates of men's mental health.”
A fourth social media user wrote: “Isn't right for the likes of This Morning to cast assumptions on Depp for how he delivers his evidence.”
