By Jess Johnson
After meeting 13 years ago, going through a very public divorce, and now testifying in a lawsuit — Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have been consistently in headlines across the country over the past two weeks since April 11.
The current $50 million lawsuit trial against Amber Heard stems from Johnny Depp claiming defamation in March 2019, after Heard wrote and published a Washington Post op-ed about being a domestic violence victim. The article, published Dec. 18, 2018, alluded to Depp’s alleged abuse through their brief marriage or time together, without specifically naming him.
“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; Imagine a powerful man as a ship, like the Titanic. That ship is a huge enterprise. When it strikes an iceberg, there are a lot of people on board desperate to patch up holes — not because they believe in or even care about the ship, but because their own fates depend on the enterprise,” Heard wrote.
As many companies, brands and fans became skeptical of Depp’s alleged actions being true, based on Heard’s allusion to the enterprise within the article aligned with Depp’s life. Heard also mentioned how worried she was to lose her own enterprise.
“Friends and advisers told me I would never again work as an actress — that I would be blacklisted,” Amber stated.
However, even though Depp also came forward with his allegations of Heard’s abuse, he was completely blackballed from his future roles, deals and company partnerships. Besides Dior, in which headlines were drawing attention to the company’s relations with Depp in 2020, such as “The Savage Truth about why Dior won’t drop wife-beater Johnny Depp,” posted by Daily Mail.
With Depp taking backlash through the past few years, and describing within his testimony in the trial how not only himself but his friends and entire family have had to endure negativity and mistreatment, the issues Heard has with Depp has been unresolved since their divorce May 23, 2016. After Heard filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences and Depp refused to give spousal support, she alleged Depp abused abused her and filed a restraining order against Depp. She alleged he was abusive throughout the entire four year relationship, and claimed he had hit her in the eye with a cell phone during the most recent altercation.
The judge granted a temporary restraining order, as Heard had a bruise on her eye in court, even though LAPD reported May 21, 2016 that there was no crime done when they were called. Heard also did not file a police report of the incident, making it into an argument during the current trial that her not filing is being used against her.
The judge did not approve spousal support from Depp. The two did reach a $7 million dollar settlement out of court that same year. However, if the abuse is proven to be allege to Heard, that says a lot about where her priorities and moralities lie within what she was truly in the relationship with Depp for.
According to People magazine, “‘As the result of Amber’s decision to decline giving an initial statement to the LAPD, her silence has been used against her by Johnny’s team,’ Heard’s attorney Samantha F. Spector and her co-counsel Joseph P. Koenig said in the statement. ‘Amber did not provide a statement to the LAPD in an attempt to protect her privacy and Johnny’s career.’”
Regardless of why she did not file, or what is truly going on between the both of thier testimonies, whether one or the other is lying, the situation has gone on far too long. It is important to always believe and support survivors and victims of domestic violence and abuse, and to never judge anyone’s situation as each is unique. However, just by watching interviews, hearing both sides’ testimonies, and watching as Heard’s lawyers pine after any evidence to prove it was not defamation of Depp, the situation is confusing.
There are different voice tapes of calls between Depp and Heard, where Heard admits to doing certain physical abuse to Depp by “accident.” There is testimony of Depp talking about the multiple things Heard has done, including mutilating his finger, hitting him with a door, and throwing certain items; to which she literally admits to on the voice recordings. It’s just hard to believe the full truth on Heard’s side is being told here.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you. It’s not punching you. I’m not sitting here bitching about it, you are,” Heard said in a voice recording presented May 22. “You’re a fucking baby. I did start a physical fight.
As Depp already lost the U.K. libel lawsuit case against British tabloid The Sun, after they stated he was a “wife-beater” in Nov. 20, and he was still in the headlines and tabloids in the worst light possible, he is simply tired. And anyone can see that in his testimonies, that he wants his children and family to be okay again. And to be fair — Heard has taken the stand already, her answers seemingly a bit off and it looks as if she’s putting on an act as she talks about her abuse, almost seeming to be forcing herself to cry. But again, she on her end may be tired as well.
As the trial continues, it will be vital to see the outcome. As at this point, most of social media has been siding with Depp, and recognizing him as a true victim of domestic abuse, due to his testimony saying he is a victim of it after all this time. To which Amber even said on a voice call used as evidence in court, “Tell the world, tell the world Johnny. Tell them Johnny Depp, I, Johnny Depp, a man, I’m a victim too of Domestic Violence,’ And I, you know it’s a fair fight. And see how many people believe or side with you.”
