We call it the perfect victim trope. Depp claims that Heard falsely and maliciously accused him of domestic abuse, damaging his career and. In a highly-publicized court case, his ex-wife Amber Heard appeared as a witness on . Heard won $2 million in compensatory damages. She would rather be in a fight than have him leave.". CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Statistics paint a big picture but they dont tell us what did or did not happen between two people. Twitter: @AbcarianLAT. All rights reserved. Based on Depps testimony and graphic, violent text messages that he sent about Heard, which were presented at the trial, he also seems to revel in misogynist violent fantasies. Her abuse was already acknowledged in a U.K. court, in an unsuccessful libel action brought by Mr. Depp against a British newspaper that called him a wife beater. (The judge in that case said, I accept her evidence of the nature of the assaults he committed against her. You could ask his fans, who are in the courtroom and nearly got kicked out by the judge when they laughed at one of the actors drolleries. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. But it doesnt work that way, Amber Heards defense team raises lurid details of Johnny Depps alleged drug use, Johnny Depp alleges Amber Heard hit him repeatedly, details finger-disfiguring fight, Letters to the Editor: Yes, L.A. drivers are getting worse. Heard is expected back on the stand at 10 a.m. Fox News' Larry Fink contributed to this report. or redistributed. Their tumultuous short-lived marriage has resulted in years of acrimony and courtroom drama spanning two continents. The trial of Depp's defamation case against Heard entered its 15th day on Thursday. In this trial, the burden is on Depp's lawyers to prove that Heard's allegations of domestic violence against her ex-husband are false. Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington . Or security. California entertainment lawyer Mitra Ahouraian added that the case isnt really about winning a defamation claim but about clearing Depps name in the public sphere, as hes said. And his lawyers also made the argument that the original Washington Post op-ed was timed to publish so that it boosted publicity for the "Aquaman" movie that Amber Heard starred in. This story has been shared 129,886 times. Lau said the timeline of events leading to Heard's accusations and inconsistencies in her story may be swaying the public to sympathize with Depp. Pool photo by Jim Lo Scalzo. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com. Fine, I do drugs, I battled addiction since I was young, but I am not a wife beater. And thats all hes trying to say.. This article was published more than 6 months ago. The actor is suing his ex-wife for defamation over an op-ed she wrote about domestic violence in The Washington Post in 2018. Opinion: Guns are the biggest public health threat kids face. Heards lawyers had tried to block the cameras in the courtroom, but were unsuccessful. Experts said he achieved this with his time on the stand. Believe all women, except Amber Heard, Chris Rock joked recently. Thats disgusting.. On the contrary, it handed the gossip industry new material. Whether or not he wins I dont think it matters to him or even to the court of public opinion, Lizardo said. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. There were constant accusations of infidelity, then "explosions." Meanwhile, Heards testimony is mocked and ridiculed. What does she wear? Johnny Depp alleges Amber Heard hit him repeatedly, details finger-disfiguring fight April 20, 2022 Rhetorical contortions aside, it seems that both Depp and Heard have anger issues. Social media doesnt care about the facts, they just care about what they see.. Not literally, of course: I could look away if I chose. The problem of choosing facts to believe is not confined to celebrities. ", JOHNNY DEPP V. AMBER HEARD: THE SHOCKING TRIAL'S WILDEST MOMENTS. And the answer to that question matters, because the reality is that abuse is very much a gendered issue: Women face much higher rates of intimate partner violence and are much more likely to be injured or killed by an intimate partner. twitter. She is human. And remember, this is when the #MeToo movement was hitting a sort of a cultural peak. If shes not a psychopath, shes the casualty of a truly sadistic reputational hit job. Trial watchers obsess over the tiniest details to claim that Heard is a drug user and therefore untrustworthy. Depp, 58, is suing her over a 2018 op-ed she wrote alleging she was a victim of domestic violence, claiming the abuse allegations were an elaborate "hoax" to promote her film "Aquaman" and punish him for leaving her. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely her own. This brand of hyperbole is often aired in divorce courts. Heard says Depp physically, emotionally and sexually. (He claimed on the stand that the text messages were intended to be humorous.). The problem with the Depp-Heard case, though, is that while the evidence doesnt make either party look particularly honorable, the social media commentariat doesnt do complexity. A Warner Bros. There are so many other newsworthy stories on this issue: the number of Republican candidates seeking office in the United States who are accused of domestic violence, for instance. "In our society," Bedera said, "we expect that victims fit a specific mold. Right now I think its undisputed that the court of public opinion favors him and heard him and are now supporting him. Earlier this week, Heard's former personal assistant, Kate James, testified that Heard once allegedly spit in her face while discussing a possible pay raise. Winning it would just be icing on the cake for him because his main goal for filing the defamation lawsuit was to clear his name and to appeal to the court of public opinion.. Heard played dirty when she wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post portraying herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse. Depp insists he never laid a hand on Heard and is suing her for defamation. But we can also look at the public response to that convoluted evidence as a kind of bellwether for sexism. And so his side of the story has been told in full. How humiliating to have your therapist testify to the world what awful spouses you were. The jury in the defamation trial in Virginia between the actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard found that Mr. Depp had been defamed in a 2018 op-ed, a verdict that handed . Engelmayer also said he believes Heard could still continue her career after the trial with studios that want to be on the right side of social history giving her roles in smaller films. The ruling was made in 2020. Depp suedhis ex-wifefor $50 million, claimingshe falsely accused him of domestic violence in an opinion column that appeared in The Washington Post. This kind of humility is useful for feminists, too: We can understand that women are much more likely to be abused than men, but that doesnt mean that women are the victims and men the perpetrators in 100% of abusive relationships. A small number of accounts can drive conversations on Twitter, he said. And that's the fight we're having in public right now.". Depp is suing Heard for defamation over a Washington Post op-ed in which she declared she was a victim of domestic violence. Actor Johnny Depp attends his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, U.S., April 27, 2022. Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Constantine also said Heard's and Depp's respective attires represent a "power-play.". A thread that dives into the May 21, 2016 incident, the one that prompted Amber Heard to leave Johnny Depp for good. In the article, Heard claimed she was a victim of domestic violence . Depp's lawyers to prove that Heard's allegations of domestic violence against her ex-husband are false. Amber Heard attends trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on April 19, 2022. The Depp fandom includes some very loud mens rights activists, who claim that women are often the abusers in relationships, as well as seemingly average citizens who have become self-styled experts on everything from domestic abuse to body language to personality disorders. And, in the meantime, domestic violence victims and abusers alike are watching this play out. 6:08 PM EDT, Tue May 17, 2022, 'Every word of it is true': Heard speaks on op-ed after break in defamation trial, OK Boomer, Lets Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind, much higher rates of intimate partner violence. ", Then in 2018, Heard published an op-ed in The Washington Post titled: "I spoke up against sexual violenceand faced our culture's wrath. The trial has drawn endless commentary on social media that is largely heavily critical of Heard. Mr. Depp has accused his ex-wife of revenge defecation in their marital bed, and of throwing a vodka bottle at him, which severed the tip of his finger. Reps for Depp and Heard declined to comment. Johnny Depp set out on a complicated legal path when he sued Amber Heard for defamation. It's more prevalent than you might think. Johnny Depp won his defamation trial, and Amber Heard has partially won her countersuit against Depp. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. On the stand Wednesday, Heard detailed multiple physical abuse allegations and blamed his behavior on substance abuse and addiction. LIMBONG: Yeah, it was. Actor Johnny Depp attends his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, U.S., April 27, 2022. Originating in the abuse and harassment of women in Hollywood, #MeToo did serve a purpose. Juda Engelmayer, the president of public relations firm Herald PR who reps disgraced filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, agreed that the fact that the trial was televised was a loss for Heard in the public and suited Depp well as a natural entertainer. That could pose risks to accusers who are not as high-profile as Depp and Heard. A public spectacle that's proving as dangerous as it is divisive. On TikTok, as of Monday morning, #IStandWithAmberHeard has garnered about 8.2 million views, while #JusticeForJohnnyDepp has earned about 15 billion views. A color of control, power and dominance. Actor Johnny Depp waves to the gallery as he leaves for a break Monday during his defamation trial in Fairfax, Va. against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. The actors completed their whirlwind divorce years ago but continue to volley accusations of physical abuse in what has turned out to be a battle for public opinion. Its useful to understand that one can be a fan of an actor and also realize that intense admiration does not translate into intimate knowledge. Its not exactly War of the Roses grotesque, but its pretty depressing. Depp texted a friend that he wanted to kill Heard and. Andrew, before we start, we should say we will be talking about domestic violence and sexual assault. Now the question is, these fans who are rallying behind him, do they have more sway than a potential financier or investor who is still putting the risk up? Ahouraian said. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. It may not make much difference, though. Actor Johnny Depp has had a wild last few years, as his notoriety shifted from this career as a character actor to this long legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. She described the disorders as "two sides of the same coin" that feature "dramatic, erratic and emotional" behavior. "Absolutely, it's already happening," said Bedera. Legal Statement. Depp texted a friend that he wanted to kill Heard and then have sex with her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she is dead. There is a video of Depp smashing kitchen cabinets while Heard tries to calm him, saying, at one point, All I did was say sorry! In an audio recording, she tells him to go put his cigarettes out on someone else, and he responded, Shut up, fat ass.. "Whether Depp was violent or abused Heard is at issue here, so the credibility of the parties is vital and every inconsistency will be exposed to help the jury determine who they believe more.". In court on Monday, Depp's medical team testified about the night his finger tip was severed, with the actor saying that Heard threw a glass vodka bottle at him, leading to it getting cut off. Johnny Depp attempted to sue the British tabloid newspaper The Sun for labeling him as a wife-beater in 2018. She countersued the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star for $100 million, accusing him and his former lawyer of conspiring to destroy her reputation in a series of smear campaigns. Heard complained that as a result of the bad publicity, photographers were following her and the tabloids posted unflattering pictures. The video ends when he sees that she is recording him and furiously grabs the phone. Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, Its really bad up here. Stranded residents in San Bernardino Mountains brace for more snow, Column: Supreme Court conservatives may want to block student loan forgiveness. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Opinion: Why does Mexicos president want to dismantle the democratic system that elected him? One almost suspects that, for some of the most vociferous defenders of Depp online, the misogyny is the point. Men can be victims of abuse, too, and sometimes relationships involve two people who physically hurt each other. Heard, for her part, has accused Depp of many assaults, including a surprise accusation in the latest trial that he sexually assaulted her once while he was black-out drunk. Butin the court of public opinion, Depp was announced the winner from day one thanks to internet trolls. Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard are continuing to face off in a highly publicized libel trial. It was not really a jovial time, and I dont think thats funny, period, she said. Depp won $10 million in compensatory damages and, $5 million in punitive damages.. Heard defamation trial; a court case intended to determine whether Amber Heard had defamed her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018 in which she. I do not believe that he was abusive with Amber," Constantine told Fox News Digital. Its very strange when one day youre Cinderella so to speak, then 0.6 seconds later, youre Quasimodo, he testified Tuesday. Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Johnny Depp looks on in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 3, 2022. Johnny Depp had sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for $50 million, arguing that she defamed him when she called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse" in a newspaper opinion. On April 11, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard reported to a Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom for a long-awaited defamation trial that would air all the dirty laundry of their tumultuous marriage. "This is not one of these Johnny Depp performances. Market data provided by Factset. Tell the world, Johnny, tell them, 'Johnny Depp, I, Johnny Depp, a man, Im a victim, too, of domestic violence. LIMBONG: Now, I should add that Heard did countersue, and then the jury also awarded her $2 million. In May 2016, just after she filed for divorce, Heard accused Depp of throwing a cellphone at her face during a fight. You know, she's parodying what Johnny is wearing. In 2020, Depp lost a similar case against The Sun newspaperin a Britishcourt when the judge found that the evidence presented was "substantially true." He went into this knowing that all of this was going to come out, Ahouraian said. Mr. Depps texts were read out, with one particular message noting that he hoped Ms. Heards rotting corpse was decomposing in the trunk of a Honda Civic! Depp claims that Heard falsely and maliciously accused him of domestic abuse, damaging his career and. The "Aquaman" actress, 36, took the witness stand in a Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom for the first time Wednesday after the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor, 58, completed his testimony on Tuesday. 2023 Cable News Network. And we're seeing it on display really clearly in this case, where Johnny Depp is denying not that he was violent, he actually is still admitting that there was violence coming from him in this relationship. 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