“People want to kill me, and they tell me every day,” an emotional Amber Heard told jurors as she testified for the last time toward the end of Johnny Depp’s defamation suit against her. “People want to put my baby in the microwave, and they tell me that.”
Whatever the outcome of this defamation suit, whatever you believe about what Depp or Heard may or may not have lied about when it came to who hit who and who started what, the actress’ description of a “campaign” against her that echoes every day. on social media – which is “harassed, humiliated, threatened every day” – is undeniable.
“I have received hundreds of death threats regularly, if not daily, since this trial began, people mocking my testimony about being assaulted,” he told the court.
A jury sent to deliberate – Depp v Heard live
The contents of Heard’s private messages don’t need oxygen because we know this: abuse is public, mass misogyny, well cataloged by the hashtags #AmberTurd (and even t-shirts).
Meanwhile, Depp fans dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow off the court and #JusticeForJohnnyDepp prevails online; The hashtag has gotten billions of views on TikTok, compared to a few million #IStandWithAmberHeard. And more than 740,000 people have signed an online petition asking him to return to his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
The vitriol is deep. I even received abusive massages just to report on the six-week trial, a small personal example of the lack of reason shown in the extreme and passionate band of Depp supporters.
Of course, many people believe in Depp. And many believe in Heard in silence. And most do not know what to think about this case, nor do they care. But for some who have sided with Depp, at least online, loyalty can be expressed in the most vicious way.
And for Depp, this case is about winning the Twitter wars as much as winning the courtroom, according to Dr. Ann Olivarius, an American and British lawyer who specializes in civil litigation, sex discrimination and sexual harassment, assault and abuse. .
The jury is deciding whether his reputation in the industry is irreparably damaged, but in public opinion court he seems to have won, if one has to pay attention to those with the highest voices.
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6:43 Depp v Heard: What we learned
‘This is a circus’
“Why would a person who loses deeply in the great country of Britain go to America to present a case that is essentially the same case?” Olivarius told Sky News, referring to Depp’s unsuccessful case against The Sun in 2020.
“It’s all about social media. For him, this is a circus. It’s embarrassing as a lawyer to see how this goes. It’s more humiliation of her, more degradation. And it can be seen in the Twitter war, which is what is this really about …
“Depp’s lawyers are using a lot of resources to convey a message that she is a broken woman, she is unstable, she is a psychopath, she is unreliable …
“There are 9.8 billion supporters of Johnny Depp on Twitter … there are 3.6 million followers of Amber Heard. And the hashtags are, for example, #AmberHeardIsAPsychopath. #AmberHeardIsALiar. These are the things that are exposed on Amber Heard that he questions his mental health, questioning whether he is a borderline personality.
TikTok supporter heard: “I wanted to help end vitriol”
Victoria Elms
Digital research journalist
@victoriaelms
The lawsuit has sparked millions of interest online and has led some to create social media accounts dedicated exclusively to sharing content in support of any of the celebrities.
On TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, pro-Depp and pro-Heard accounts have garnered hundreds of thousands of followers and produced videos that have been viewed millions of times.
Depp fans are easy to find, but those who support the actress are more complicated, as there aren’t that many. The One Heard follower I found is based in Australia and has a TikTok account with over 25,000 content sharing followers.
Its page consists mainly of clips of the televised trial with printed text at the top, as well as screenshots of news articles and links to court documents; the most popular video on the page has been viewed more than three million times.
The account owner told me that they created it in September last year to address what they call a “pro-Depp and anti-Heard video bombing” on their TikTok “For You” page. They say they are by no means a Heard superhero and only knew her before the trial because of her closeness to Depp.
“I was more of a Depp fan,” they said. “But after the 2016 allegations, that was for me. I thought creating an account would help combat much of the misinformation I saw and could also help put an end to Heard-targeted vitriol.”
“Depp owes a check to his fans”
Online threats, though sinister, may be easier to dismiss as the work of angry Twitter trolls than memes and teasing. The vast majority of this content is likely to have been created and shared by younger social media users, rather than 30-, 40-, or 50-year-old fans who grew up with Depp in the 1980s and 1990s.
Maybe many of these are the same users who asked us on #BeKind not long ago. A user who posts a joke may not notice how the cumulative effect of thousands can have an impact.
U.S. entertainment journalist Ronse Esangbedo says Depp’s campaign has had an impact: “Depp’s fan base has acted as his external public relations arm, #JusticeForJohnnyDepp has been very popular on Twitter. .. creating sympathy for Johnny Depp, so I think he owes them a check or two.
“It’s hard to explain why people are the way they are when it comes to flattering certain celebrities. It’s not always reasonable, it doesn’t always make sense.”
Read more: Weekly story of the trial of the ‘soap opera’
Celebrity branding expert Jeetendr Sehdev says the case, and the reaction to it, could have a negative impact on victims of domestic violence and their willingness to speak out. “We’ve seen that Amber Heard is very much a victim of this, and we have to believe the victims when they say they’re being abused; one of the discussions has been why victims don’t talk because they often don’t. Believing, so I think we have to make that change. “
You don’t have to believe in Heard or like her to see that online abuse is disturbing. Can you imagine taking the time to send someone a message telling them you want to microwave your baby?
Depp may be winning in public opinion online court. But whatever the verdicts, or how much money is awarded in damages, it’s hard to imagine the end to be a victory for anyone.