Heartfelt congratulations to Johnny Depp for surviving the Heard-storm that came very close to destroying his career. It was very wise of him to sue for defamation. Now, maybe, or maybe not, he can reclaim his acting career, take back his good name etc. Amber Heard now owes Depp a cool $15 million.
Of course, the media, who had a clearcut bias against Depp before the trial even started, engaging in their own kind of defaming, are trying to spin Depp’s victory today in court. “Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Each Defamed Each Other, Jury Rules,” so states Variety. Quite the sly spin.
The pre-trial narrative was that Depp abused Heard and that she was a #MeToo survivor, but things have clearly changed with all the court evidence presented in Depp’s favor. It’s not like I ever bought that Heard was the victim of this relationship, there were clear signs, red flags if you will, that she had a shady past. I wrote extensively about the case in an 04/22 piece titled, “Johnny Depp: Innocent #MeToo Victim?”
Heard’s claims of abuse in the hands of Depp seemed sketchy from the get-go. Her Washington Post Op-Ed, which kickstarted the firestorm, read as inauthentic as her own acting abilities.
Depp was quickly deemed persona non grata in Hollywood because of these domestic violence accusations made by his former wife. The irony of the Heard v Depp saga is that, court records would eventually show, she was actually the person committing the abuse.
Of course, it takes two to tango, and Depp/Heard were a toxic duo that absolutely destroyed ranch other with their entitled, and shallow narcissism. I am by no means saying that Depp is innocent either, the actor clearly has his own substance abuse issues, but this trial has made Heard look like Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction.”
Now, the question must be asked: Did Johnny Depp pump the breaks on the #MeToo movement? A woman in front of the courthouse today, who is also a victim of domestic abuse, told a reporter that she always thought that we should believe all women. Now, she says, not anymore, we need to wait for the facts.
Something is changing. Depp/Heard may have a cataclysmic effect on the zeitgeist, bigger than we ever imagined it could.
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