Amber Heard speaks out on Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni: ‘I saw this firsthand and up close’

American actress Amber Heard has expressed support for Blake Lively amidst the actress’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni, comparing Lively’s ordeal to her own highly publicized defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp.

In a statement to NBC News, Heard, 38, described Lively’s accusations against Baldoni as a “horrifying” reminder of her experience during the contentious trial. “Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying, ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on,’” Heard said. “I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.”

Lively, 37, has accused Baldoni, 40, her co-star and director on the film It Ends With Us, of sexual harassment during production. According to Lively’s legal complaint, Baldoni and other production team members allegedly orchestrated a smear campaign to destroy her reputation.

Baldoni, who has denied the claims, recently hired the same crisis PR firm that Depp utilized during his defamation lawsuit.

Bryan Freedman, Baldoni’s lawyer, has dismissed Lively’s lawsuit as an attempt to “fix her negative reputation,” while accusing her of causing difficulties on set.

Freedman, as per NBC news report, responding to Heard stated, “TAG PR must be the most powerful group of publicists the world has ever seen for it to be able to completely change the perception of both Amber Heard and Blake Lively.”

Baldoni, who directed and starred in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel It Ends With Us, has been dropped by his talent agency WME amid the controversy.

Heard’s remarks to NBC News follow her own legal battle with Depp, which ended in a Virginia jury awarding Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The same jury awarded Heard $2 million in her counterclaim but no punitive damages. Heard reportedly criticized the trial’s outcome at the time, saying it “sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.”

Freedman countered Heard’s comments, emphasizing that both cases had been “widely filmed and documented for the public to make up their own minds — which they did, organically.”