Johnson opens up about viral Depp video

LOS ANGELES • Actress Dakota Johnson has broken her silence about a video which went viral during the defamation trial between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

In the widely shared clip which has millions of views, Johnson and her co-star Depp are promoting their crime drama Black Mass at the Venice Film Festival in 2015.

She is seen asking him about his injured finger and then looking thoughtful after he seems to jokingly explain how he was injured.

Iterations of the video spread like wildfire across social media, with titles such as "The exact moment Dakota Johnson knew Amber Heard was violent towards Johnny Depp".

Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse".

He testified during the trial that Heard had severed the tip of his finger with a vodka bottle during an argument in 2015.

The jury found on June 1 that Depp and Heard had defamed each other, but weighed in far more strongly with Depp. He was awarded US$10.35 million (S$14.4 million) in damages, while US$2 million was awarded to Heard.

In an interview in the July/ August issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Johnson, 32, said: "I was like, 'For the love of God, why? Why am I involved in this?'"

The star of the Fifty Shades trilogy (2015 to 2018) added: "I don't remember that at all, but please, take me out of this. Don't let this go further. Can you imagine... if I was called to the witness stand?"

"I can't believe that people are watching (the trial) like it's a show. It's like it's a courtroom drama and my heart breaks. It's so, so, so crazy. The Internet is a wild, wild place," she said.