Medias role in the Amber Heard v Johnny Depp trial
Summary
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard divorced in 2017, three days after Amber had issued a retraining order against him. The two went about their lives until 2018, when Amber was interviewed for a Washington Post article, it was then posted with the title, "I spoke up about sexual violence- and faced our cultures wrath. That has to change." After this article was been posted, everything started to spiral out of control, Amber had labelled herself as a domestic violence survivor and Johnny had now been labelled an abuser. He went on to lose many job opportunities, and stepped down from his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. After this, Johnny Depp's lawyer had issued a statement stating that the claims Amber Heard made in the Washington Post article were in fact false. From then to present day, Johnny Depp has lost many job opportunities including role with Disney, any many other potentials that did he did not get a chance to start because of this trial. From there, the two stayed separated and on the down low until the trial began. Johnny is suing Amber for $50 million dollars in damages and still denies that he ever physically abused Amber during their relationship. The two are now currently in the middle of the trial, and Johnny has just finished testifying and Amber had just begun a few days ago. The process to find a jury and judge without previous biases toward Johnny because of his status. Amber is also an actor but not as the same level of fame as Johnny, which resulted in Johnny already winning in the court of public opinion. The trial has a major presence online and many use social media as a way to express their opinions on the trial.
My opinion
Social media can be a very interesting place, especially when it concerns serious topics like a domestic abuse trial. I myself, am not fully educated and informed on the situation yet so I do not have a full formed opinion on it yet. However, as a teenager growing up in the 21st century, I have almost every social media app downloaded on my phone. Since I keep up with the trial on certain news platforms my algorithm specifically chooses to now include bits and videos of the trial on my social media feeds. Most of the time it is just simple information about what happened in court that day. But more often than not, I find that I stumble upon edits or videos making fun of Amber in court, or even idolizing Johnny in videos. Now I myself am a Johnny I think that no celebrity should ever be idolized, everyone has a past and they are still humans. I stumbled upon a live video on Instagram yesterday that inspired me to write this. The live video was an individual who had set up a screen that said "One rose equals one point for Johnny and one daisy equals one for Amber." Now a little explanation on what this means, you can send virtual gifts to people in live videos on various social media platforms. You do have to purchase these gifts to send them, and then the money gets send to the individual you are giving the gift too. Now that you have that bit of backstory I will continue. This creator had this set up and people were absolutely bombarding this live video with gifts, voting on Johnny and then another on Amber. This is just one example and it baffles me. Not only that someone is profiting off of this serious trial, but that social media has gone to this point. This is a trial for abuse, and people are making edits of it idolizing Johnny and then making fun of Amber, and her mannerisms in court. It makes me wonder what led us to get to this point.
Title of article:
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial: Summary and Timeline
Date of article:
May 5th, 2022
Page number:
Page 1
Author of article:
Kalhan Rosenblatt
Link:
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/johnny-depp-amber-heard-defamation-trial-summary-timeline-rcna26136
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