top of page

Depp v. Heard has fans tuned in world-wide

TUES. | 05-24-22 | ENTERTAINMENT

     Since 2018, “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, Amber Heard, have been going head-to-head in legal battles. Allegations of sexual assault, domestic abuse and defamation have been brought to the stand, and it doesn’t seem like the feud itself is ending anytime soon.

     According to Insider writers Jacob Sarkisian and Zac Ntim, it all began with an article published in 2018  to “The Sun” that called Depp a “wife-beater”, which caused him to resign from the third film of the “Fantastic Beasts” series — a prequel to “Harry Potter”. This is when the first case was filed. 

     After that, a whole spiral of legal cases were filed which brought us to where we are today. 

     On April 11, Depp’s defamation trial against Heard kicked-off after a series of audio recordings were leaked of Heard admitting to physically abusing Depp. Viewers get to watch the trial live and hear these recordings for themselves along with witness testimonies of the alleged abuse.

Screen Shot 2022-05-24 at 9.39.35 AM.png

Graphic by Liv Carpenter

     When watching these cases, it’s become evident to me that Heard’s legal team could be so much better than it is. There was even an instance where, when interviewing an Australian rental broker of a property the couple stayed at, her lawyer objected to his own question which was immediately followed by the judge reminding him that this was his own question. 

     Some journalists, such as Above the Law writer Chris Williams, have compared Heard’s team to high school mock trials — agreeing that they can do better. 

     Depp’s team has done a great job of finding witnesses and experts, as well as gaining physical evidence against Heard. One of the more notable expert witnesses was forensic psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry, who had spoken about Heard’s potential borderline personality disorder and narcissism. What I really liked about her was that she brought the facts and evidence to back it up. This was not the case for Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, who implied that Curry was only hired because she had dinner with Depp, which in actuality was a meeting that happened to serve dinner. 

     However, Heard’s attorney’s performing unintentionally hilarious acts during court is not the only notable part. Depp has been seen trying to keep himself entertained by drawing sketches — one of which being his attorney, Benjamin Chew — during the trial. Not only this, but on the days of being on the witness stand, Depp was seen making snarky remarks at Heard’s lawyers’ objections and questions. 

     This all may seem like a joke so far, but I don’t want to leave out the fact that there have been a few very emotional moments. One of the audio clips that was played recorded Depp admitting to wanting to harm himself because of Heard's abuse, which caused him to cry. There were also times where he reenacted some of the abuse while speaking about how Heard would instigate these attacks — claiming that he would never hit back. 

     Depp has gained a lot of support from ex-partners and friends, such as Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr., who have stated that he is far from a violent person. However, in the case of Heard, many ex-partners have stated how physical she is. 

     In 2009, Heard was arrested in Seattle after ex-partner and painter Tasya van Ree had accused Heard of hitting her. However, according to Mirror writer Malvika Padin, van Ree continues to support Heard through her legal battle with Depp, and domestic violence charges against her were dropped after her arrest. 

     With information still coming to light, the Depp versus Heard case is still ongoing, and it doesn't look like it’ll be ending anytime soon. Based on what I have seen so far, Depp claims he will continue to fight until justice is served, and hopefully, it will be soon. As for Heard, there is so much evidence against her that proves her abuse, and Depp is brave for standing up for himself and doing everything he can to fight. If he does end up winning this case, I see a bright future for him; one where he actually gets cast in more roles and is sponsored by more companies.

bottom of page