Amber Heard V. Free Speech

Today was a victory for male victims of domestic abuse as the verdict was announced in the defamation trial from Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard. This trial lasted more than 6 weeks and was telecasted live on TV as well as through dozens of live-streams on YouTube and Twitch. During the final days and in the closing statements of Amber Heard's legal team suddenly the focus was shifted from being a victim of domestic and sexual abuse by her ex-husband Johnny Depp, to the issue of free speech. I'll try to summarize and explain why this shift was a sign of nearing defeat for Team Heard...

When we think of domestic abuse or sexual abuse, our minds almost automatically conjure up images of women being abused by men. This is understandable because in the overwhelming majority of physical and sexual abuse men are the perpetrators and women are the victims. Or at the very least in the cases that see the light of day. Men, if they are on the receiving side of this kind of abuse, will not usually admit they are victims, not even to themselves in many cases, because of the gender-roles ascribed to them by society; boys don't cry, don't be a pussy and all that stuff... So I'm glad that this is slowly changing and we see more men man-up and make themselves vulnerable by declaring that yes, men too can be victims of abuse. And today the jury decided in favor of a man that is a role-model for many; Johnny Depp got awarded $15 million in damages in his defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

So what was it all about? Technically the case was about an op-ed Heard published in the Washington Post on 18 December 2018, in which she declared: "I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change." Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife for defamatory statements in that op-ed, claiming that the piece was about him, that Heard accused him of the abuse she spoke up against, even though his name wasn't mentioned even once. Well, his name didn't have to be mentioned; everybody knew it was about Depp, because in the op-ed Heard stated that she became a "public figure representing domestic abuse" two years prior, and everybody knew she filed for and got a restraining order against him in May 2016. When Heard left the court with the restraining order on 27 May 2016, she posed for the assembled paparazzi with a bruised face and the pictures were published world-wide.

In April 2018 the UK Sun newspaper headlined "Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?" Depp sued the tabloid for libel over the article that called him a "wife beater," which he lost under UK law. The Sun said the article was accurate, and they won that case. Amber heard wasn't a party in that case, but she did testify, corroborating the accusation of physical violence for which she obtained that restraining order two years prior. All this, the ease with which Heard got the restraining order (while Depp was away for an extensive European tour no less), and the ease with which the Sun won its case against Depp, was a sign that men are guilty until proven innocent. Well, Depp was at least. And let's not forget that Heard's false accusations were made easy by the hundreds of powerful men who got away with sexual and physical abuse; the #MeToo movement and a term like "rape culture" didn't just magically appear, but are grounded in that unfortunate reality.

After losing the UK trial, Johnny Depp sued Heard for $50 million in February 2019 over her December 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post. Depp also repeated his allegation, first made in the UK trial, that Heard had been the one who abused him, and that her allegations constituted a hoax against him. During the public trial, that began on April 11 and ended on June 1, it became increasingly clear that Heard's allegations indeed were untrue judging by the presented evidence and witness statements. No definitive evidence of Depp abusing Heard was presented, other than some questionable photos, but there was definitive evidence of Heard hitting and verbally abusing Depp. I'm, not going into the details here, but let's just say that Heard isn't a very convincing liar, and I believe the jury picked up on that, just like I and seemingly the rest of the world did. If you've missed it (I did miss most of it), there's hours and hours of testimony and cross-examinations posted on YouTube.

For weeks Team Heard tried to convince the jury and the world of the "fact" that Johnny Depp brutally abused and raped his then wife, but suddenly focus was shifted, the last day or two and in the closing arguments, to Amber Heard's freedom of speech. Heard's attorneys argued that a verdict against her would be a verdict against the First Amendment; they even closed with the words "give Amber Heard her voice back." That I found rich. As Depp's team stated, Amber heard has used her free speech by defaming Depp, but also that defamation is not protected speech. You can not intentionally destroy a person's life by spreading grotesque untruths bout them. Heard hasn't caught that message though, because right after the verdict she tweeted this statement:

The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband.

I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.

I believe Johnny's attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the keay issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK.

I'm sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American - to speak freely and openly.
_{source: Twitter - @realamberheard}

Depp never made that new Fantastic Beasts film. Since the defamatory statements from Amber Heard in 2016 he hasn't been cast in any major film and, although not proven, Disney didn't want him back as the lead if a new Prates of the Caribbean film was ever made. Judging by the witnesses, Johnny Depp has a big drugs and alcohol problem, one that he himself admitted to since day one of this trial. But the weight of the presented evidence painted him a soft, caring and pleasant man whose previous partners, of which there are quite a few, describe him as such. Normally in #MeToo cases like this more women step up to say "me too," but none did in this case. That, and Heard's own performance (literally) on the stand make it hard if not impossible to lend an ounce of credibility to her accusations. I'll leave you with a video from one of many #justiceforjohnnydepp channels, watching and celebrating this remarkable victory for Depp and other male victims of sexual and / or physical and / or domestic abuse and intimate partner violence.

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