It’s about defamation, damage to reputation, hurt pride – and above all the question: Why can’t Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard stop arguing publicly? He sued her for $50 million in damages, and she responded with a counterclaim demanding $100 in damages. This process, in which both lawsuits are heard at the same time, is likely to do more harm than good to each. It’s like a brawl: It’s possible that someone will win – but both opponents will suffer a black eye, a bloody nose and possibly irreparable damage.
There shouldn’t be this trial, pretty much all observers agree, especially since both have already suffered damages from previous trials – but they continue and how serious they are, that was when the trial began Monday in Fairfax County Circuit Court Observe the US state of Virginia: Depp wore a suit, waistcoat, tie, pocket square; he looked like Johnny Depp dressing up as a business Johnny Depp for a movie role. Heard was also wearing a suit and waistcoat, looking the same as ever. Short greetings from both of them to the 200 fans and just as many reporters. Judge Penney Azcarate previously specifically banned autographs and selfies. In the courtroom, she then warned the 100 or so visitors, most of whom were Johnny Depp fans, not to pull out their cell phones or to loudly express their affection for Depp.
Actress Amber Heard, who was married to Johnny Depp until 2017, also wants compensation.
(Photo: Samuel Corum/AFP)
The sharp attacks in the opening speeches further fueled the charged mood. Depp’s lawyers portray Heard as the neurotic, paranoid and selfish perpetrator who fabricated the allegations against Depp. She stylized herself as a victim because she didn’t want to accept the humiliation of a public separation. “She’s obsessed with her image,” Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez told the 11 jurors. “She’s internalized that role for years and she’s ready to give the performance of her life.” Heard is a manipulative liar, mentally unstable and emotionally abusive. In short: the real perpetrator. It was a Hollywood-ready performance by Vasquez. The only reason the people in the room didn’t jump up to applaud was that Judge Azcarate had specifically forbidden it beforehand.
Heard’s attorneys countered that their client had been emotionally, verbally and physically abused by Depp and feared for her life. “Amber also suffered sexual violence from Depp, this violence will be seen in a terrible way and unfiltered,” said Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborg: “You will hear it from her: she will tell exactly how it was.” This process only exists because Depp’s goal is “to destroy her career and ruin her life.”
Just a day before the trial began, Heard wrote on Instagram that she “still had a love for Johnny.” It is sometimes said that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. The dispute between the former couple is anything but indifferent. Hurt pride seems to evoke an even stronger emotion than hate. Heard continues: “It pains me greatly to relive the details of our past together in front of the world.”
This past initially seemed like the cycle of failed Hollywood marriages: met while filming the film “The Rum Diary” in 2011, public turtle-necking, marriage four years later. Divorce in 2017 with fierce allegations from Heard: Depp is said to have beaten and emotionally abused her. However, she withdrew these allegations after an out-of-court settlement in which she received seven million dollars from Depp and wanted to donate to non-profit organizations. So far, however, Heard has only donated one million. A tip for Depp’s lawyers that Heard is a brazen liar.
In the pre-me-too period, the case would have been settled – and thus an affront to abuse victims. In 2018, Heard published a text in the Washington Post, in which she addressed all of this. She was abused, the perpetrator got away with it because of his celebrity and wealth and silenced her: “I spoke out against sexual violence – and felt the anger of our culture. That has to change.” She didn’t specifically mention Depp, but you didn’t have to be a descendant of Sherlock Holmes to realize that the essay was an indictment of Depp, but also of this system that protected prominent and wealthy offenders for decades.
In the British tabloid Sun Depp was then referred to as a “wife beater” – as someone who hit his wife. One strategy would have been to ignore or deny the allegations – like someone who avoids a fight by turning their backs on the other person, whether they are guilty or not. However, Depp did what they call “doubling down” in the US: up the ante. He sued them Sunand he sued Heard.
The trial against Sun was an example of why out-of-court settlements also exist: to protect the privacy of those involved. A trial is not only about the specific allegations, but also about washing the dirtiest laundry in public. Depp accused Heard of leaving a pile of excrement on his bed during a party. The insult “Amber Turd” (Amber Shit) from a text message from Depp spread on social networks.
Verdict in the previous trial was a crushing defeat for Depp
The verdict, however, was a crushing defeat for Depp: The Sun proved that he had been violent towards his then wife, that she had to fear for her life and that the term “wife beater” was a fact. It could hardly be more devastating, and this verdict should have been the end of the story at the latest. Depp was on the ground, but Heard was also there because of the bad allegations with a bloody nose and black eyes: According to medical certificates, she suffered from jealousy and anxiety and abused medication, she threw a vodka bottle at Depp and insulted him.
Depp, however, upped the ante and wants damages for defamation, although author Heard did not specifically mention him in the text. For that he needs a new strategy. 140 witnesses are noted in the files, which the SZ are available, including celebs like tech billionaire Elon Musk and actor James Franco. The first witness called: Depp’s sister Christi Dembrowski. Depp was abused by his mother, through the constant humiliation by Heard (“She called him a fat old man.”) He experienced it again. When she said that, Depp looked down as if about to cry.
This is how it should continue in the coming weeks: It will be a brawl without gloves, but above all without considering losses.