This was a ‘crushing blow’ for Amber Heard: Trial attorney
Criminal Defense attorney Brian Claypool breaks down how the jury came to its conclusion in Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation case on ‘Fox News @ Night.’
We’ve gone from #MeToo to #NotHerToo in record time. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard performed their own personal remake of "The War of the Roses" and destroyed the concept of "believe all women." It was also a reminder that America is still driven by celebrity culture, not politics.
Inside the Beltway, they fight over Ukraine or the ever-growing budget. In the rest of the country, citizens couldn’t get enough of Depp v. Heard. Even the horrifying murders in Texas took a back seat on Twitter to the seven-week Hollywood blockbuster defamation fight.
The verdict awarded $15 million in damages to Depp and $2 million to Heard. Variety summed it up by stating: "Johnny Depp Wins a War of Credibility Against Amber Heard." But the court case made both stars look bad, as well as the media/social media industrial complex. Prominent Hollywood stars seemed quick to congratulate Depp, which should mean his career will be fine.
Liberal Guardian columnist Moira Donega called the trial "an orgy of misogyny" and part of the "backlash to #Me Too." "Heard is still in an abusive relationship. But now, it’s not just with Depp, but with the whole country," Donega complained.
Actor Johnny Depp waves to supporters as he departs the Fairfax County Courthouse Friday, May 27, 2022 in Fairfax, Va. A jury heard closing arguments in Johnny Depp's high-profile libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard. Lawyers for Johnny Depp and Amber Heard made their closing arguments to a Virginia jury in Depp's civil suit against his ex-wife.(AP Photo/Craig Hudson) (AP Photo/Craig Hudson)
Everyone felt compelled to comment. The GOP’s House Judiciary Twitter account tweeted out a GIF of Depp as character Jack Sparrow from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies soon after the verdict. New Yorker Senior Writer Sarah Jones said that was "deeply sick." And Celebrity Net Worth updated Heard’s net worth snarkily at "-$8 million" after the verdict.
The trial was dominated by social media. And so was the result. After the verdict came in, five of the top 10 Twitter trends were about the case including hashtags #TruthWins and #MeToo. Both stars released statements on Instagram. The likes on Depp’s comment reached more than 16 million, with 920,000 comments. Heard locked responses, limiting them to just five supportive comments. And a Change.org petition to keep Heard from the "Aquaman" sequel appeared poised to reach its 4.5 million signature goal.
New York Times internet and pop culture Critic at Large Amanda Hess’s analysis ran under the header "TRIAL BY TIKTOK." As Hess put it, "I did not follow the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard — it followed me." She explained that "images from the courtroom began to saturate my social media feeds."
The case looked at whether Heard had defamed Depp in a 2018 oped that ran in The Washington Post, headlined: "Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change." Depp argued the oped made him look like the abuser and it had harmed his acting career.
The resulting analysis of that oped proved embarrassing to the ACLU, which authored the original draft. Heard previously vowed to split her $7 million divorce settlement with Depp, with the ACLU getting half. The ACLU then named her an ambassador for the organization.
According to the Post, "an ACLU communications strategist sent an email to Heard’s publicist and others that said, ‘I’d like your and Amber’s thoughts on doing an op-ed in which she discusses ways in which survivors of gender-based violence have been made less safe under the Trump administration and how people can take action.’"
The Post added a 131-word editor’s note to the piece after the verdict explaining how parts of the op-ed led to both jury decisions on damages. The Post didn’t take any responsibility for running the op-ed even though that was the piece that a jury said defamed Depp.
The op-ed testimony was one of several low points for Heard during the trial. It came out she only donated $1.3 million of the promised $3.5 million so far, though she has several more years to finish the commitment.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard before their split. (AP)
But coupled with testimony from model Kate Moss, it undermined Heard’s credibility. Heard testified "she punched Depp in the face out of fear he was going to shove her sister, Whitney Henriquez, down a staircase," reported the New York Post. Heard said it reminded her of "Kate Moss and the stairs," implying Depp had pushed Moss down stairs years earlier.
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Moss’s denial further undermined Heard’s allegations. The Daily Mail said Moss "coolly rubbished claims repeated by Amber Heard that Depp had once pushed her down the stairs."
The trial introduced many to the world of super fandom. The term "Stan" applied to aggressive fan bases supporting both stars that flooded social media with comments, memes, videos and more. Stan comes from an Eminem song about an obsessive fan and it’s far from complimentary.
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Celebrity still trumps politics in the court of public opinion. This case proved once again that you need to win in both.
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