Johnny Depp: Cool or Fool?

She was held to a way higher standard than Depp. Inconsistencies in her testimony were considered evidence that she was “bad,” fundamentally. Reports of drunken violence on Depp’s part dating back decades were simply ignored.

not to mention, people flocking to the 'this proves Amber was the abuser' narrative don't even understand that the trial was over fucking defamation, which, her losing at best means she fabricated some claims against him, not that she abused him, nor that he didn't abuse her.

(I really hope the appeal is successful, but not sure how likely that is? even if she does, though, the damage is already done and is going to be nigh impossible to reverse).

(don't take that to mean I didn't believe her claims, I mean we all know the UK bench trial went very differently)

Legally, defamation means she willfully misrepresented the truth. To prove she did that in the WaPo article, which doesn’t mention Depp by name but simply refers to the fact that she was a victim of domestic violence, Depp’s lawyers would have had to prove with a “preponderance of evidence” that he *never* abused Heard. They absolutely did not demonstrate this. Their whole strategy was designed to cast her as an abuser and a liar. Which was not even really relevant. If she sincerely believed herself to be abused, even if the record showed a more complicated picture of mutual abuse, that wouldn’t rise to the level of defamation because she would not have been willfully and maliciously distorting the facts.

the jury wasn't sequestered, were they? they probably arrived at their votes via TikTok

thanks for the link, gyac

Also the timeline shows a pretty plausible story of an alcoholic relapsing and lashing out violently. Over time, it seems she became enraged by dealing with this and that is where they were able to drag up evidence that made her look bad. But all of that is irrelevant. If she believed his drinking and violence precipitated the hell their marriage became when she wrote the op-ed, she wasn’t committing defamation, she was sharing her perspective. He could have his own version of events and that is fine but hers doesn’t become defamatory because he sees the breakdown of their marriage in different terms. The bar for defamation is supposed to be high.

Honestly this whole defamation trial just seemed like more abuse.

It’s also hard for me to disentangle the sadistic misogyny on display all over social media with the mass shootings that took place this week. It all forms a part of a really fucked up culture where people are seeking targets for their inarticulate rage.

Johnny Depp fans paid $3k to unseal the court documents just to get dirt on Amber, but ended up unintentionally exposing Depp and information he tried to keep private instead. A thread 🧵🪡 pic.twitter.com/NzH8eD1yJI

— chateau bunny (@cocainecross) July 30, 2022

An interesting (?) resolution to this case:
- settled by Heard (she was going through the appeal process with some very high profile 1st amendment lawyers and the case was thought to be strong)
- only has to pay $1m but is free to speak ???
- the resolution threads two themes that you see in a lot of cases like this: she was being put through the ringer financially and subject to such grotesque harassment that this is the result

Amber Heard settles with Johnny Depp and speaks out: "I will not be threatened, disheartened, or dissuaded by what happened from speaking the truth. No one can and no one will take that from me. My voice forever remains the most valuable asset I have." https://t.co/m6xTr4nwJA

— Variety (@Variety) December 19, 2022

My heart goes out to Amber Heard as she has made the decision to settle the defamation lawsuit against her by her abusive vindictive ex-husband, Johnny Depp. He and his team used misogyny, victim blaming, and lies to further abuse her on the stand. I hope she heals from this… pic.twitter.com/DdCKpQnVSu

— 𝝠sh (@starfallgoddess) December 19, 2022

Heartbreaking, the worst person you know, etc

The Sun is still calling him a violent wife-beater. #CannesYouNot pic.twitter.com/ePVgLq7CgP

— Xandra 39 (@carriecalista) May 19, 2023

fuck Johnny Depp

and Cannes for that matter.

hate teh stupid 'narrative' that won out thanks to Depp's abusive legal tactics