Here’s a confession. I don’t like Amber Heard.
I don’t think anyone does.
This is a woman who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder, both of which impair her ability to regulate her emotions. She spat in her employee’s face, admitted to punching Johnny Depp, and has possibly defecated in their bed because she felt slighted. She is not a nice person.
But it’s not her character that’s on trial. At least, that’s not what ought to be on trial.
Amber Heard is being sued for defamation. In the op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post (which you can read in full here), she wrote:
“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”
Johnny Depp claims that when she penned the words “a public figure representing domestic abuse,” it was clear that she was claiming he was the one who perpetrated the domestic abuse. Due to this, he lost lucrative roles and his reputation. He claims that this allegation- that he perpetrated domestic abuse- is a lie. And to be clear, his story is not that his wife hit him, threw things at him and that in defense, or in response, he struck her. No. He is adamant that he has never struck a woman. (See 0:31 below.)
Maybe he even believes this. It is clear he does not remember many of his actions when he was high or drunk, and Amber has been clear that most if not all of the times he physically or sexually assaulted her were when he was high or drunk.
But it’s still false. Amber Heard has provided ample evidence to demonstrate that she was indeed the victim of domestic abuse. Perhaps Johnny can claim that she also perpetrated domestic abuse against him. But that’s not what’s happening in this trial. What’s happening is that she says she experienced domestic abuse, including physical and sexual violence, and he says it never happened.
Here’s what this means we would have to believe. We would have to believe that Amber Heard messed up her own face or tore out chunks of her own hair, creating a hole visible from the top of her scalp, the night before she was slated to appear on the James Corden Late Late Show. She broke her own bed so that she could claim Johnny’s boot was the one that broke it. (My Google Photos can place my photos in order by date taken, so I am sure the court has verified these photos were taken the time and date she claims this fight occurred.)
Does that seem plausible to you?
Let’s even assume Amber Heard is a liar or has a loose relationship with the truth. Let’s assume that not all of her testimony is true. Let’s assume she’s manipulative. All that needs to have happened for her to not have defamed Johnny is for him to have perpetrated any kind of domestic abuse (that includes verbal and emotional abuse.) Here’s the legal definition of domestic violence in West Virginia, where this trial is taking place.
"Domestic violence" or "abuse" means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between family or household members, as that term is defined in section two hundred four of this article:
(1) Attempting to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing physical harm to another with or without dangerous or deadly weapons;
(2) Placing another in reasonable apprehension of physical harm;
(3) Creating fear of physical harm by harassment, stalking, psychological abuse or threatening acts;
(4) Committing either sexual assault or sexual abuse as those terms are defined in articles eight-b and eight-d, chapter sixty-one of this code; and
(5) Holding, confining, detaining or abducting another person against that person's will.
Johnny certainly placed Amber in “reasonable apprehension of physical harm” and committed “threatening acts” (as you will see in the video below.) And if Johnny physically hurt Amber or hit her once, it’s game over for his allegation of “defamation.” It’s pretty obvious he did physically hurt her during this December 2015 fight.
Now, none of this fits the nice-guy image we have of Johnny Depp. We grew up with him in Pirates of the Carribean. He was swashbuckling. He was dashing. He was hot. Additionally, it’s so easy to paint him as a victim. He was an addict. He was in pain. Evil Amber took advantage of him.
But then you watch this part of the trial.
And you see a man who cannot- or chooses not to -control his temper. And more than that, a man who exhibits no remorse. He’s not sorry or disturbed by his behavior. He’s not ashamed. He’s busy focusing on the fact that the video was “illegally recorded.” And pointing the jury’s attention to Amber’s supposed smile and laugh at the end of it. He’s cracking up the jury with his witty lines. “So yes, I did assault a couple of cabinets, but I did not touch Ms. Heard, as you can see, no?”
This is a man who calls his wife a “fatass” and a “cunt.” (Yes, she also calls him a “fucking pussy” and other horrible names.)
It’s also a man who sends text messages to his friend about burning his wife, then fucking her corpse. And who freely admits that there is a piece of him that is a “monster.”
So why are so many people on Johnny Depp’s side? Why is he winning in the court of public opinion?
There are several factors. Part of it is because of his fame, which exceeds hers. He also has a nice-guy image, and plenty of people who can testify to all the wonderful things he has done for them, and ways he has improved their lives.
But there is another factor. We hate unlikable women. And we judge them.
A Netflix TV show recently came out called ‘Anatomy of a Scandal.’ Below is the trailer. (I will subsequently discuss content that includes spoilers).
Here’s why the show is brilliant. It mirrors real life.
James Whitehouse, a highly placed minister, married man, and loving father, had a consensual affair with his intern for five months. The woman, Olivia Litton, freely admits that she was in love with him. She was heartbroken when he ended the affair. On a day when he was angry about how he was described in a newspaper article- deemed “arrogant”- she followed him out of the room. She told him “Arrogance can be terribly attractive.” They differ as to who signaled the other into the elevator. They kissed passionately - consensually- but then he wrenched her blouse open, placed his hand beneath her skirt, and tore her underwear off. And then he raped her.
Olivia Litton does not make a good victim. She’s a homewrecker. She declares herself in love with James. She admits she wanted the affair to continue. And one can easily dream up a nefarious motive for her accusation against James- a woman spurned, she now wants to wreck his life.
James Whitehouse walks away from his rape trial unscathed. I will not be surprised if the same happens with Johnny Depp. Whitehouse is charismatic, good looking, and his wife is standing by him. (He’s also clearly a sociopath.) Depp is also playing the part of the consummate gentleman, someone who was struggling with addiction while dealing with his unstable, volatile and self-confessed sometimes violent wife. Who wouldn’t feel for him? Who wouldn’t get distracted?
Because this trial isn’t actually about who is the bigger victim or who is the most likable person on the stand. It’s about one thing and one thing only.
Did Amber Heard defame Johnny Depp?
And the answer is a resounding ‘no.’
Which is why Depp lost his UK case. And was unable to overturn that ruling on appeal. But his thinking is so distorted that he cannot accept responsibility for his own actions, so he has decided to exercise control yet again and drag Heard through the public humiliation and shame of this trial in the U.S.
But the cult of celebrity- and of women in love with Depp, while hating Heard- is different in America. (More on that here.)
So I doubt justice will be served.
Which is unfortunate.
Because unlikable victims are still victims. And they, too, deserve justice.
The trial is occurring in Fairfax County, Virginia, not West Virginia btw. You may want to revise the statues listed in the article. But at cursory view, I think your conclusion still holds.