Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. Amber Heard attends trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on April 19, 2022. While Depp is not named in Heard's piece, his legal team insists that it is strongly inferred that the article is about him. But its also something much more valuable: an insight into the way we think about and, much more often, ignore intimate partner violence. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. He says he didnt come close to hitting her, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life. He further accuses her of having thrown a vodka bottle his way that smashed and severed a finger. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Johnny Depp won his defamation trial, and Amber Heard has partially won her countersuit against Depp. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! This story has been shared 100,343 times. Already, the singer Marilyn Manson has filed a defamation suit against his ex-fiance Evan Rachel Wood, one of several women who have accused him of sexual violence. Hopefully, teachers are talking to their students about this trial in Virginia, and maybe getting kids to open up about whats happening in their own lives. 2ND UPDATE, 1:23 PM: "I tend to be quite expressive in my writing," a halting Johnny Depp said Tuesday on the stand of his $50 million defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. 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. Pool photo by Jim Lo Scalzo. There seems, however, to be a broader misogynist frenzy at work, one characteristic of the deeply reactionary moment were living through. Her profession is used against her, as Depp fans claim that shes acting her way through her testimony and is clearly insincere. And remember, this is when the #MeToo movement was hitting a sort of a cultural peak. Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington . It's been a long trial. "[T]he question is, was he abusive with Amber? Heard did not name Depp in the Post essay, but Depp says his professional reputation was hurt nonetheless. But the impact of this trial isnt limited to its outcome or what that says about the story either side is telling. But Depp neednt succeed in court to achieve his ends. M illions of people are tuning in each day to watch as Johnny Depp sues his ex-wife Amber Heard for $50m in a defamation trial in Virginia, USA. Now, Heard denied that and testified that Depp was routinely, like, jealous and angry and abusive and even sexually assaulted her. Discovery Company. 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. Amber Heard enters the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 3, 2022. Its horrible because you see every flaw, every misspoken word, every piece of testimony that doesnt necessarily jive with how she said something happened a couple days ago and then social media calls her out and beats her out for it right away, Engelmayer said. A public spectacle that's proving as dangerous as it is divisive. MARTINEZ: What has Amber Heard said about the verdict? Thats what a six-week trial, televised every day, thats what they were counting on would happen, Ahouraian said. But in this case, some of it was Bouzy estimated that there were 340 inauthentic Twitter accounts devoted to defaming Heard and amplifying petitions calling for her to be fired from acting and modeling gigs. "He rips my underwear off and then he proceeds to do a cavity search. 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And even Depps daughter is being targeted for online abuse by Depp fans who believe she is insufficiently supportive of her dad. Could it be possible also that the public might be more sympathetic toward Depp because he is such a big movie star, and so well-liked on screen for decades? Johnny Depp testified this week in his defamation case against Amber Heard, accusing the actress of emotional and physical abuse during their four-year . Now that the 58-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star has told his side publicly, legal and PR professionals told The Post a jury ruling in his favor doesnt matter as much. And the reality is that Johnny Depp is facing a lot of consequences for committing acts of violence, not just to Amber Heard but also for volatile behavior on set. 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. But here in the States, Depp testified that Heard was the abuser, that she punched him and once threw a bottle of vodka at him, which cut his finger. When [Johnny Depp] stepped off the stand, I think he already won based on his definition of winning, said Texas civil attorney Katherine Lizardo. Heard says that Depp slapped, kicked and headbutted her. Everyone thinks that any activity against them is bots or whatever, the groups founder, Chris Bouzy, told me. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Hollywood insiders break down Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's chances of making a Hollywood comeback following the trial. We call it the perfect victim trope. "In our society," Bedera said, "we expect that victims fit a specific mold. More Americans Believe Johnny Depp Tuesday, April 26, 2022 Although most Americans aren't paying much attention to the defamation trial between actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber. I cant look away from the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial. Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Depp won $10 million in compensatory damages and, $5 million in punitive damages.. ", Amber Heard enters the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 3, 2022. Depp lost his libel battle against the Sun in London's high court in November 2020, after the judge found the majority of alleged assaults made by Depp against Heard were "proved to the civil . Theirs was obviously a tempestuous marriage. Results. She wrote, quote, "it sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. But even if you believe that Heard acted inexcusably, the idea that she was the primary aggressor against a larger man with far more resources who was recorded cursing at her for daring to speak in an authoritative way defies logic. He admitted to head-butting her, though he said it was an accident. But it doesnt automatically follow that he physically hurt her. Depp is suing Heard for defamation after she stated in a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post that she had become a public figure representing domestic abuse. Johnny Depp attempted to sue the British tabloid newspaper The Sun for labeling him as a wife-beater in 2018. The only thing that one could do, really, was try to stay out of the line of fire., The couples therapist, Laurel Anderson, testified in a videotaped deposition that Heards father beat her as a child and that it was a point of pride to her if she felt disrespected to initiate a fight. Also, said Anderson, she felt she had to hit him back if he hit her and so she always did., The therapist described the couples dynamic as mutual abuse.. Email tips toaudrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants. On the stand Wednesday, Heard detailed multiple physical abuse allegations and blamed his behavior on substance abuse and addiction. "I just, stood there staring at the stupid light. Experts say. 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. However, there was a subsequent outpouring of support from Twitter users who pointed out systemic disbelief of women who come forward with stories of abuse. First off, the public face of domestic abuse is a title Heard bestowed on herself. 20. "I think there are a lot of reasons for that," Bedera said. Copyright 2022 NPR. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. 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. Then in 2020, Heard countersued Depp, claiming his former attorney defamed her when he said her abuse allegations were a sexual violence hoax, ginned up to attract attention for her movie Aquaman, which premiered three days after her essay ran in the Post. This is what you get when fame and fortune infantilize two grown people, each of whom needs desperately to have the last word and to have it in public. But theyve hit a snag, Op-Ed: I pushed my kids to succeed academically to escape racism. Yet even if trolls and bots helped juice anti-Heard mania, there are obviously plenty of real people participating in it. It was about, like, six weeks. Depp texted a friend that he wanted to kill Heard and. Depp is suing Heard, his ex-wife, for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." Though . Conversely, Heard is countersuing for $100 million for nuisance with her attorneys set to argue that the essay in question was a matter of public interest and she should therefore be protected from a defamation suit. When you look at this parroting of how they're dressed alike, this definitely is a power-play between the two of them. "Right now, [Depp's] team is alleging that if a woman comes forward and identifies as a survivor in public, that that could count as defamation.". Originating in the abuse and harassment of women in Hollywood, #MeToo did serve a purpose. But this, I suppose, is the result of the misguided righteousness that has blinded Depp and Heard to their own faults. 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. Some of them are obsessive Depp fans; as Kaitlyn Tiffany wrote in The Atlantic, theres a history of online communities fixating on theories that the male objects of their fandom were being manipulated and tortured by less-famous, female romantic partners.. To a casual observer, the case seems to be about two deeply dysfunctional people who both saw their emotional dysregulation made exponentially worse by their romantic relationship. And this is really common in cases like this, where perpetrators will claim that they are the true victims. "According to a Know Your IX report from 2021, they found that of the survivors that report to their universities, 23% are threatened with defamation lawsuits by their perpetrators, and 10% face some kind of a retaliatory complaint on campus.". By 2012, she was "walking on eggshells" but didn't know what she'd done wrong. All rights reserved. For too many social media users, Depp fandom and a bizarrely inflated sense of purpose and self-righteousness around this trial have become pretexts for a familiar hobby: harassing women online. When Heard went to court to get a domestic violence restraining order against Depp, she had a bruise on her cheekbone from where she said he threw a phone at her. Wear the Gucci tie and the Gucci pin. The stars wed in 2015, with Heard filing for divorce the following year. Thursday, he admitted that he had assaulted a couple of cabinets.. Whether or not he wins I dont think it matters to him or even to the court of public opinion, Lizardo said. 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. "This is something I say a lot," she continued. The problem of choosing facts to believe is not confined to celebrities. He said she might fling an ashtray at his head or hit him with her high heel or a telephone or whatevers handy., In our house, he said, we were never exposed to any type of safety. First Amendment scholars say the battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is unlikely to have any deep significance for the law. Book publishers and universities are blacklisting people based on unverified accusations, allegations or complaints. They often dont even reveal exactly what the accused had allegedly done. Heard didn't name Depp in the article - however, he says the . Heard, 36, countersued for $100 million, claiming Depp defamed her when he said she was lying about her abuse allegations. Heard says Depp physically, emotionally and sexually abused her; Depp says he never hit her but that she assaulted him. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Meanwhile, every platform appears to be full of adoring pro-Depp memes. 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