Amber Heard Isn’t The Perpetrator, Johnny Depp Isn’t Innocent ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
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The whole world has eyes on Johnny Depp, and Amber Heard ever since the $50 million defamation trial started on 11 April. Is it actually justice being delivered when we can see the attention shifting from what’s important to spreading toxicity in the name of truth. It seems the fate of this trial has already been decided before its end.
We are too focused on the memes and the trolls that we are forgetting about the long history behind it. Looking past the 2020 libel case doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. After Amber filed for divorce, a restraining and protective order from Johnny, followed the claims of physical, sexual, and emotional violence. Then came the 2018 Washington Post op-ed written by her.
Titled “Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” The actress spoke about her history of abuse throughout her life. And as the title suggests, the unwarranted hate she received for defaming fans’ favourite star Depp. The same year, The Sun published an article on the Hollywood star titled, “GONE POTTY How Can J K Rowling be “genuinely happy” casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”,
These two headlines have vanished among the thousands of news that come in support of Depp. Though the actor sued the publication, he didn’t win the case. In fact, Judge Andrew Nicol even found the majority of alleged incidents of physical assault against his ex-wife as “substantially true.” These incidents span from the year of 2013 to 2016.
From an assault on a private plane to the one that took place during their honeymoon, all were presented before the court. Now, during the ongoing high-profile defamation trial, somehow, Depp’s claims of being the real victim have become more important to us. But, we can’t ignore this blatant sexism, misogyny, and injustice happening in front of our eyes.
We are not saying that Amber Heard is innocent and Johnny Depp is guilty, it’s not that black and white (More on that later). But never in history has it ever happened that allegations of abuse have led to the accused facing this much backlash. Amber’s image as a witch wanting to ruin Depp’s career has been ingrained in our minds, while we see him as a chill and cool man, doodling and eating candy in court. His suffering seems more important than that of the forgotten victims of war, corruption, and greed.
Also, the hate against Amber is higher than any of Hollywood’s power players who have been accused or convicted of worse crimes, be it Billy Cosby, R. Kelly, or Harvey Weinstein. This case has driven the sexists, and misogynists to target feminism as if women don’t face more abuse than men. The filthy memes circulating on a person’s claims of facing violence are chilling. Is that what we have come to?
Let’s not celebrate the Chris Rocks of the world making “jokes” on the case and thrash the opinion of the world’s Julia Foxs like it’s garbage. The power dynamic plays an important role in a relationship. Let’s not forget what happened between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has also been called “mutual abuse” and side with one person blindly. Let’s not forget what is at stake here.
