Earlier this week, thousands of sites previously closed court documents from Johnny Depp’s lawsuit vs. Amber Heard were released to the public, and they were pretty terrible. They reveal Depp’s legal team’s original plan to use Heard’s nude photos against her; confirmation that the photos and audio submitted by Depp were tampered with; notes from the couple’s therapist confirming that Heard was a victim of “intimate partner violence;” text messages from Depp and his assistant confirming all of Heard’s claims that he kicked and beat her in front of his staff on a private jet; Depp’s efforts to help Marilyn Manson, another alleged abuser, hide from the police; and more.
Overall, regardless of how Depp’s supporters reportedly financed the costs of unsealing the documents, the revelations from the pages hardly paint a flattering portrait of the man who is to become a national hero for the symbolic defeat of lying, cheating women everywhere. It is not yet clear whether the unsealed documents will have a significant cultural impact; but at the very least, they seem to have convinced some of Depp’s former A-list backers to rethink their position, or at least hide their public displays of support.
On Thursday, a viral Twitter yarn It first shared a huge list of celebrities who had initially “liked” and apparently disliked Depp’s celebratory Instagram post, shared after he won his defamation lawsuit in May. Jezebel has since confirmed that these celebrities’ Instagram accounts do not appear to have “liked” the post as of Friday afternoon. They include: supermodel Bella Hadid, game of thronesSophie Turner, NikkieTutorials makeup influencer Orlando Bloom, Robert Downey, Jr., Zoey Deutch, Joey King, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Coolidge, Jordan Fisher, McKenna Grace, Riley Keogh and Bruce Campbell.
Amanda Knox, an activist known for her wrongful conviction in Italy for murdering her roommate in 2007, also appeared to have initially “liked” the post in May; her account no longer “likes” the post as of Friday. Notably, even CUNY, which previously boasted that one of its alums had worked on Depp’s team, I apologize for the email earlier this week.
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According to a Buzzfeed report from May, other high-profile celebrities who “like” the post and he doesn’t seem to have disliked Vanessa’s involvement.people will die [shrug]”Hudgens, Alleged serial abuser Ryan Adams, director Taika Waititi, Jennifer Aniston, Gemma Chan, Henry Golding, Zoe Saldana, Halle Bailey, Naomi Campbell, Dominic Fike, Heard’s co-star Jason Momoa, and more. And before that, stars like Courtney Love and Kate Moss publicly shared stories or messages of support about how Depp hadn’t abused them or had he was actively kind to them— thus proving that he couldn’t have hurt Heard, because everyone knows that domestic abusers have also abused every woman they’ve ever encountered. Famous men like Depp’s friend Paul Bettany-who texted Depp about “burning Amber” and “cremating her body” – and Fantastic Beasts director David Yates they’ve also called Depp a jackass and said they’ve never seen him hit a woman, so it probably shouldn’t have happened.
Depp sued Heard for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote identifying herself as a victim of domestic violence, two years after she publicly accused Depp of abuse. Even before the aforementioned court documents were unsealed, Heard presented extensive evidence of the abuse she says Depp inflicted on her during their relationship, from abusive audio and texts to witness accounts of the number of alleged abuses she had. . However, a jury rule that Heard defamed her ex-husband and must pay him $15 million. An anonymous male juror continued later Good morning America and punished Heard for it “crocodile tears”, and said Heard and Depp were “both abusive to each other”.
When the verdict came out, survivors across the country spoke about it TAX of the week-long, nationally televised trial, which aggressively perpetuated centuries-old myths of victim-blaming and sexist tropes — including that if a woman reacts or responds to abuse by her partner, she is no longer the victim, but the perpetrator herself. The unsealed documents provide further examples of the extent to which Depp and his team relied on blatant misogyny to attack Heard – but this, in itself, is not a new revelation. There is no excuse for anyone—including high-profile celebrities who publicly market themselves as feminists and profit from that marketing—to only now realize all that was convicted at trial. From a more cynical perspective, maybe they haven’t even changed their minds, but feel the tide is turning and that their names shouldn’t be attached to his post?
Learning and growth are important. But how many women must be publicly retraumatized and mocked endlessly by millions before enough is finally enough?