The Depp v Heard trial might be the biggest televised trial since the OJ Simpson trial. In both cases, the verdict has been reached and has caused massive waves across the mainstream media sphere. Since the beginnings of the trial itself, social media sites have been flooded with people’s opinions on the matter. This has taken the form of memes, tweets, references, clips of the trial itself, and different people’s reactions to the whole drama.
The case was a big one, both in regards to who was involved and what the case was about. As the trial came to a close, there was outcry with regards to what the result of it would be on the larger scope of the legal system and the culture itself. Considering that the case involves issues of physical assault, abuse, and false allegations, the impact on such cases of a sensitive nature will also be immense. Either how they are perceived or even how they are tried-since there is no possible way that the jury did not get caught up in the context, meme storm, and debates that surrounded them with regards to this trial.
For many, this case was one that was a complete public trial. It did not seem to be a legal case but one of the reputations of the individuals involved. Considering that both the individuals involved are A-list celebrities and actors and depend on their PR to earn and get jobs, this was a highly important case. When it comes to the larger impact of the trial itself, there were popular movements that were affected by the public trial and the verdict rendered afterwards.
For example, for many people it was an example of how women, no matter how influential, would still have a hard time fighting these kinds of cases. It was also an important trial when it came to the movements involving believing women when it came to cases such as these. The #BelieveAllWomen movement took a massive hit when the verdict was released, and during the trial itself. The #Me-too movement was also involved since this case involved not only Hollywood but a case of a powerful man (Johnny Depp was substantially more wealthy and more influential during this time) silencing a woman trying to raise a voice against his actions.
On the other hand, this can also be viewed as a victory for victims of physical assault across the world. Considering the fact that traditional gender roles and the patriarchy itself is the main reason why legitimate male victims do not come forward, this might actually be a huge victory for feminism as well as for assault victims. Shame and traditions are the main reasons why a lot of these kinds of victims do not voice their concerns about their conditions. One of the best examples of this is when one of the pieces of evidence in this trial was a voice-recording of Heard telling Depp that no one was going to believe that a man was a victim of domestic violence.
In any-case, we have to take a step back from the maelstrom around the case and look at it as objectively as possible before we can analyze its effects. Though the truth really does not matter when it comes to public perception of either parties in the mainstream, it is important for us to look at the facts before we can comment on the effects and consequences in the future. This would allow future victims or existing victims to not be afraid of raising their voices whilst also discouraging people from making false allegations out of spite.
Let us take a look at the facts leading up to, and during the duration of the trial and see if we can look past the miasma of social media clutter at what really happened.
Depp vs Heard (2016)
A year after getting married, Depp and Heard got a divorce as a result of a deteriorating relationship. Heard filed for the divorce and accused Depp of being abusive. She alleged both emotional and physical abuse and was able to get the case settled out of court. The allegations at this time were not as public as they would come to be later on when Depp lost his libel case against the Sun.
Depp vs The Sun
In 2018, Johnny Depp lost a libel case against The Sun (a celebrity gossip newspaper). He had sued The Sun for publishing a story that was authored by Amber Heard. Heard had alleged that Depp was abusive towards her and that the relationship was very toxic and abusive from Depp’s side. It was clear to everyone that the subject of the article was Depp, even though the defense made the argument that it was not directly alleged by Heard.
Depp not only lost the libel case against the Sun, but this was disaster for him and his career. Depp was immediately replaced in “Fantastic Beasts 3”. Since then, Depp has been facing the same allegations of abuse and labeled as an abuser and a predator by the public and the media. However, Heard since then saw a rise in her career with her roles in the DC cinematic universe and seen as an icon for the #MeToo movement and lauded for her bravery.
In 2021 Depp attempted to recover some of his lost reputation by trying to appeal the court’s ruling in the libel case from three years prior. He was denied permission to appeal the case and his reputation took a further hit from this.
Depp vs Heard (Defamation)
The 2022 trial was for Heard being accused of defamation. This is where things took a turn in Depp’s favor. The trial was televised and Depp’s legal team was able to catch Heard and her lawyer in multiple lies throughout. It further came out that Heard was the one who was the one physically abusing Depp. More and more evidence came out of Heard’s past actions e.g her getting arrested for assaulting a previous partner (though at that time the charges were dropped). In the public realm this was thoroughly seen as a win for Depp even before the verdict was reached and the public perception of Heard took a massive hit.
Verdict and Conclusion
At the end, both Depp and Heard won their respective lawsuits against each other, where Depp came out with being awarded substantially a larger amount of money. For the public, being awarded more than ten million dollars than your ex partner would seem to be a win and atleast in the public realm Depp came out like an angel.
However, we must keep in mind that both individuals were shown to be thoroughly toxic for each other and attempted to use their influence over the public domain for their own betterment.
The MeToo movement, feminism, and the perception of abuse have all largely benefited from this trial since the emphasis on evidence and truth was higher than the perception of a man against a woman. This is a good example to tell anyone that tries to say the system is tilted against men post 2012, whilst also giving hope to victims of both genders that might feel ashamed to ask the system for help.
When it comes to a country like Pakistan where traditional gender roles and the adherence to the patriarchal system is so stringent, a public enough case like Depp v Heard raises awareness about what toxic relationships and abuse looks like, and that it is honorable to leave these relationships for a better tomorrow.
