Lifestyle
On social media, Johnny Depp is winning public sympathy over Amber Heard
Actor Johnny Depp waves to the gallery as he leaves for a break Monday throughout his defamation trial in Fairfax, Va. towards his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Steve Helber/Pool/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
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Steve Helber/Pool/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Actor Johnny Depp waves to the gallery as he leaves for a break Monday throughout his defamation trial in Fairfax, Va. towards his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Steve Helber/Pool/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
On Monday, actor Johnny Depp is scheduled to return to the stand within the defamation trial between him and his former spouse, Amber Heard, that’s happening in Fairfax County, Va. Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Submit in 2018 about being a survivor of home violence. Heard didn’t identify Depp within the Submit essay, however Depp says his skilled repute was harm nonetheless. Closing arguments within the case are anticipated to start this Friday.
On Weekend Version Sunday, sociologist Nicole Bedera, who focuses on sexual violence, spoke to NPR concerning the trial and its implications for discussions about intimate companion violence — and why social media appears to have way more sympathy for the previous Pirates of the Caribbean star than for his ex-wife.
Public opinion seems to be weighing way more closely in favor of Depp than Heard. On TikTok, as of Monday morning, #IStandWithAmberHeard has garnered about 8.2 million views, whereas #JusticeForJohnnyDepp has earned about 15 billion views. Why is there such a disparity?
“I believe there are a number of causes for that,” Bedera stated. “Certainly one of them that is actually easy, and that we can’t overlook is, in a defamation case, Johnny Depp will get to go first. And so his facet of the story has been instructed in full. And lots of people made up their minds after week one of many case or day three of the case. However the different purpose is that in on-line areas, we frequently see that males’s rights teams and different anti-feminist teams are higher organized. We all know that males’s rights activist boards, for instance, have been following the Heard case fairly rigorously.”
Might it’s doable additionally that the general public is likely to be extra sympathetic towards Depp as a result of he’s such an enormous film star, and so well-liked on display screen for many years?
Sure, Bedera responded. “That is one thing I say lots,” she continued. “All of us assume that sexual violence is unsuitable and say that we are going to consider and assist survivors, up till the perpetrator is somebody we all know and like. You do not wish to really feel such as you’re a foul individual when you proceed to love Pirates Of The Caribbean.”
Throughout the trial, Depp has additionally accused Heard of assaulting him, and claimed that he’s a sufferer of home violence as properly. It has been one thing of a catalyst for males’s rights teams to rally round Depp.
“In our society,” Bedera stated, “we anticipate that victims match a selected mildew. We name it the proper sufferer trope. And infrequently we confuse victims’ self-defense as a type of aggression. And that is actually widespread in instances like this, the place perpetrators will declare that they’re the true victims. They do one thing that psychologists name ‘DARVO.’ ‘DARVO’ is an acronym that stands for deny, assault and reverse sufferer and offender. And we’re seeing it on show actually clearly on this case, the place Johnny Depp is denying — not that he was violent, he really remains to be admitting that there was violence coming from him on this relationship. However he is denying that Amber Heard’s story of it’s reliable, and as an alternative saying that she drove him to violence.” (In a sequence of 2016 texts, Depp and fellow actor Paul Bettany mentioned the concept of killing Heard, which he stated on the stand was “summary humor.” He additionally claimed on the stand that it was Heard who turned their fights bodily.)
Bedera additionally says that she is anxious concerning the affect this trial might have on victims of intimate companion violence and their willingness to come back ahead.
“That is my greatest concern about this case, and I believe it is one thing that is actually gotten misplaced within the sensationalism across the trial,” she added. “Proper now, [Depp’s] workforce is alleging that if a girl comes ahead and identifies as a survivor in public, that that would rely as defamation.”
That might pose dangers to accusers who will not be as high-profile as Depp and Heard.
“Completely, it is already taking place,” stated Bedera. “In line with a Know Your IX report from 2021, they discovered that of the survivors that report back to their universities, 23% are threatened with defamation lawsuits by their perpetrators, and 10% face some form of a retaliatory criticism on campus.”
Depp’s repute in Hollywood has already taken successful. Final Thursday, Depp’s former agent testified that studios have been much less keen to work with him due to his “unprofessional habits” and rumored substance abuse.
“One query I’ve proper now, in our kind of post-#MeToo second,” Bedera commented, “we’re making an attempt to resolve what the implications needs to be for intimate companion violence. And the truth is that Johnny Depp is dealing with a number of penalties for committing acts of violence, not simply to Amber Heard but in addition for unstable habits on set. And individuals who work alongside him have a bit clearer of an image than any person who’s watching it on TikTok and does not know any of the individuals concerned on this case. Each Johnny Depp and Amber Heard admit that there was violence on this relationship. The query is whether or not or not there needs to be penalties for that violence. And that is the combat we’re having in public proper now.”