Despite losing against The Sun in 2020, when a judge ruled that allegations over Ms Heard suffering domestic abuse were “substantially true” and the media outlet possessed sufficient evidence to claim Mr Depp a “wife-beater”, the A-lister won his recent defamation case. The court awarded him $5m in punitive (which has since been capped by the judge at $350k in line with state law) and $10m in compensatory damages over an article in which Ms Heard claimed to be a figure of domestic abuse as the jury found her statements on her marriage “false”. This in contrast to the previous case, where the jury ruled in favour of Ms Heard in finding her defamed by Mr Depp’s former lawyer, Adam Waldman, who publicly called her abuse claims a “hoax”, and awarded her $2m in damages.
The verdict is slightly surprising considering that in closing statements, Ms Heard’s lawyer said “If Amber was abused even one time, then she wins” as her op-ed only implied her victimhood of domestic abuse- nothing more. It shows it was unlikely the jury believed any of the numerous incidents of emotional, physical, verbal, and sexual assault she alleged under oath. I can’t comment on the jury’s mindsets and reasoning but it’s frightening how few people believed her online and have spread hate, misogynistic hate that Mr Depp has simply not received, and have sent death threats.
While I wasn’t sure which way the jury would go; it wasn’t a shock that Mr Depp won as he seemed to be winning public favour for reasons I’ll try not to speculate on. With cameras in the courtroom and clear reaction shots of the participants’ faces, TikTok dances and memes were created (often at the expense of Ms Heard crying) and reached thousands. Strong voices and influential figures supported the movie star, the powerful man, the confident man seen doodling, laughing, and eating candy in the courtroom. Testifying before Ms Heard, I saw snippets of Mr Depp's charismatic testimony and as his lawyers have been deemed celebrities in their success and charm, I can easily see why people favoured him.
It wasn't a shock that Mr. Depp won, as he seemed to already be winning public favour for reasons I'll try not to speculate on
In Ms Heard’s testimony, she said many things that resonated. Including, “This is horrible…this is humiliating for any human being to go through and perhaps it is easy to forget, but I am a human being…As I stand here today, I can’t have a career. I can’t even have people associate with me because of the threats and attacks that they will have to endure.” And “I know how many people will come out and say whatever for him. That’s his power. That’s why I wrote the op-ed. I was speaking to that phenomenon.” There’s no denying that it was Mr Depp who brought the libel suit against her and has been pushing her to publicly relive her ill-fated marriage for years and it was him who was fed public support from nameless voices as well as celebrities like Eva Green and Kate Moss. His power is such that I wonder behind his reasons for bringing the libel case forward. Unlike Ms Heard, he didn’t care to attend the reading of the verdict instead preferring to be in a bar in Newcastle with well-wishers. Whether we agree with Ms Heard or not, the verdict or not, her above statements have transpired.
There was an opportunity to paint the woman alleging domestic abuse as crazy, deluded, manipulative, and malicious, so Mr Depp’s legal team, with their psychological evaluations and the public with their opinions seemed to do so. The trial, the depictions of both Mr Depp and Ms Heard, and the verdict are dangerous and I worry it will severely influence victims of domestic abuse coming forward and choosing to seek justice. After all, the verdict appears to say that any woman claiming domestic abuse despite not naming the abuser is defaming the unnamed figure. It’s saying they will be at risk of a lawsuit, publicly ridiculed, abused to a large scale, and deemed malicious and untrustworthy with a career in ruins (Ms Heard's role in Aquaman 2 has been left in the balance).
It leaves us with some questions:
Was it a trial by social media? How much does social media influence legal proceedings? Is our obsession with celebrities damaging? Why did Mr Depp continue to pursue the case? What was true? Was it ‘mutual abuse’? Is ‘mutual abuse’ possible? Was the verdict correct? Or did the best lawyers win? How will it affect their lives? Was the trial determined by charisma and fame? What will it mean for victims of domestic abuse coming forward? What does it mean for the #MeToo movement as very few public figures supported Ms Heard? What does all the truth and lies mean for victims of domestic abuse who don’t possess millions?
