It is safe to say that the public perception has already tilted heavily in favour of Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, who is suing his ex-wife and actor Amber Heard for $50 million in a defamation case .
The #justiceforjohnnydepp hashtag has racked up more than 9.7 billion views as of May 9, 2022, whereas #justiceforamberheard hashtag has amassed only 25 million views. TikTok videos mocking Heard’s facial expressions and her emotional testimony have reached up to 14 million views in a matter of days.
Johnny Depp testifies in the courtroom during the defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia| Collected Self-proclaimed victims of domestic violence have been leaving comments in large numbers on all social media platforms in favour of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star. One YouTube user wrote, “As a former victim of DV, I can tell that she is not a victim of DV. Amber performs how she imagines a victim would feel - hurt and broken - but we tend to downplay rather than exaggerate, and we tend to be much more distanced and short in descriptions because the mind doesn’t want to go there, yet Amber includes details like how dirty the carpet was. It tells me that she, as an actor, is imagining the scenario and is trying to put herself in that place, but that she has never actually experienced it.”
“I'm a survivor of domestic violence. All I have to say is, when Johnny gave his testimony, it felt very relatable and made me relive and question things from my own past. When Amber gives hers... it feels like something is not right,” wrote another.
Fans have been lining up in front of the Fairfax County courthouse for the past weeks with gifts, cards, bouquets and supporting messages for Depp. Crowds chanting "We love you, Johnny," "You're beautiful," have become a common sight.
The derogatory and often violent text messages from Depp, where he called Heard names, have been vigorously defended by many fans, who consider it an act of venting and a possible symptom of reactive abuse, which refers to an abused person finally lashing out toward his or her abuser.
Some have however pushed back against the overwhelming support for Johnny Depp. Maureen Curtis, the vice-president of criminal justice programs at the victim assistance organization Safe Horizon, told Rolling Stone that the current state of events is “totally demoralizing and demeaning to all survivors, to all people, to everybody who believes all survivors should be treated compassionately and fairly.”
“When you have a celebrity, particularly one who’s as well-liked like Johnny Depp, accused [of violence], it makes it harder for a survivor to want to come forward, and to be believed. People don’t want to believe a well-liked man [could] do things like this,” she added.
“There’s no doubt this could lead to fewer survivors coming forward. They don’t want to be put through what she [Amber Heard] is being put through.”
A few domestic abuse experts have also noted how this trial has exposed the public’s desire to look for an “ideal victim,” the criteria of which Heard has not been able to meet.
