Sunrise's Nat Barr and David Koch slammed for 'nonsense' interview

Sunrise hosts David 'Kochie' Koch and Natalie Barr have been slammed for a controversial interview about actor Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's recent court case.

After six weeks of evidence, Depp was awarded A$14.4 million in damages after he sued Heard for defamation over an article published in The Washington Post titled: 'I spoke up against sexual violence – and face our culture's wrath. That has to change.'

The article did not mention Depp by name, yet his lawyers said it falsely implied he physically and sexually abused Heard while they were together.

Following the verdict, Heard said she was "heartbroken" but "even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women".

Since the verdict, Heard has spoken out in an exclusive interview with NBC News where she is standing by her claims and accusations against Depp.

At the end of the clip, Heard was asked how she responded to claims her testimony was "the performance of a lifetime".

"Says the lawyer for the man who convinced the world he has scissors for fingers," Heard said.

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Sunrise played a clip from the exclusive chat, before unpacking it with psychologist and broadcaster Cooper Lawrence.

As the camera cuts to Cooper after playing the clip, she is seen chuckling before she says Heard's claims were "confusing".

"I think she's on the, 'you need to listen to me' tour, 'I wasn't lying' tour, but yet she has these awkward moments she had during the trial where you're kind of like, 'Wait, are you lying again?' Because it's like she can't get her own story straight that she memorised for this interview and she's not even under oath," she said.

"The thing is we know Johnny Depp doesn't have fingers that are scissors, we also don't think he was once a real pirate, the whole thing was really odd and really weird and I am trying to think about what her intention is here because it's not doing her any good. Social media is having a field day once again and that's what she's trying to avoid."

Cooper then said the couple had divorced in 2017 and Heard said she wanted the pair of them to move on, but then she wrote the article that became the centre of the court case.

"She's been poking the bear ever since because she still wants him in her life, even if it's in a negative way, and here she is again. They do have a toxic relationship and she clearly wants to continue it," Cooper claimed.

Koch then clarified whether Heard was making the claims to keep "the attention back on her and the relationship with Johnny".

"Yeah, because the narrative isn't I want to be seen as a good person here and I want my career back," Cooper replied. "Instead she's coming up with the same things that she said before that were already proven lies, her narrative is all over the place. I was looking for her to be more likeable and honest here."

During the segment, Koch said Heard's interview was "weird" and wondered if Depp would sue again "just to shut her up".

After a clip of the Sunrise interview was posted to Twitter, author and feminist Clementine Ford slammed it as "absolute nonsense".

"She didn't 'poke the bear'. She wanted nothing to do with him and she didn't name him in that piece which you clearly haven't read. Depp is the one who dragged her through two trials, against her will. He promised global humiliation and he gave it to her," she clapped back.

"Amber Heard has endured abuse ... she’s now being abused repeatedly by a braying public who just love being given an excuse to proudly and openly flay a woman in real-time.”

Others also hit out at the interview, with one saying on Twitter: "Wow. This was out of line."

"It's amazing how many people will say, 'I believe all women' when that they really mean is 'believe only women who are likeable and behave as perfect victims'," somebody else said.

"Cashing in on somebody else's misery," another claimed.

Following the jury's verdict, Depp said, "the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled".

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