Why is this politics related?
This is about the worst of cancel culture and the rights of men to not be defamed by bitter, crazy exes (my opinion). This is about allegedly false "me too" claims that cost a man his career and status as a Hollywood star. The mass media is not going to cover this trial fairly, so it is important for the general public to understand the core issues. This may be another Smollett, except with real harm.
What are the issues?
This is going to be a long trial, up to 6 weeks or more, so there's not going to be a summary of everything.
In 2016, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp divorced. During negotiations, she filed a restraining order claiming domestic abuse. At that time, her lawyers sent a letter to the Depp legal team which could be interpreted as a veiled threat, asking for a set sum of money in exchange for potentially problematic information from coming to light. She arrived at court with "bruises" on her body, which she claimed Depp caused. This garnered quite a bit of media attention. They settled their divorce, with Heard receiving $7 million which was to be given to charity. She never gave the money to the charities as promised.
In 2018, at the height of "me too", The Washington Post published a Heard-authored Op-Ed (allegedly co-written by the ACLU) in which she made claims of physical domestic abuse. She did not name Depp in the piece, but it was clear she was referring to him. Depp was quickly cancelled. He lost his role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. He also lost his role in the Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts series. British tabloid The Sun published an article in which Depp was labeled a "wife beater." Depp filed suit against Heard for defamation in Virginia (where WaPo is headquartered) and against The Sun in the UK.
The case against The Sun was settled by a judge (not a jury) in the UK, who determined the statements were not defamation and wrote that he believed Depp assaulted Heard. There was substantial evidence presented that Heard actually abused Depp, including recordings of her own statements. There are multiple inconsistencies in her accounts of abuse, including inconsistencies with other witnesses and police body cam footage. In one example, Heard claimed Depp punched her in the face on Dec 15, 2015 and left her with black eyes and a hurt nose. She appeared on James Corden's show the very next day, with no signs of injury. The makeup stylist testified there were no bruises or marks on her face. As it turns out, (internet rumor alert) the UK judge's relative is a partner in the law firm representing Heard and the judge's wife was apparently chummy with others involved in the case (unsubstantiated internet rumor with some variation). Judge should have recused himself, but did not. Heard was not a party in this case but was forced to testify.
Heard tried to have the case in Virginia thrown out in light of the UK verdict, but the judge refused to do so. Depp is having issues getting Heard to cooperate with court orders to turn over evidence.
Jury selection was today. The trial broadcast will start tomorrow morning. A lot of Hollywood and celebrity types have been subpoenaed.
Potential witnesses include:
James Franco
Elon Musk (had a fling with Heard)
Paul Bettany
Reps from the ACLU, Disney, Warner
Youtube lawyer LegalBytes has published a ton of videos on this case. She's got a pretty conservative take on things. Good channel.
Here's her broad overview:
And a summary of the allegations:
And here's hero Nick Rekeita's quite long, rambling, slightly drunken, yet entertaining stream on the topic:
This is about the worst of cancel culture and the rights of men to not be defamed by bitter, crazy exes (my opinion). This is about allegedly false "me too" claims that cost a man his career and status as a Hollywood star. The mass media is not going to cover this trial fairly, so it is important for the general public to understand the core issues. This may be another Smollett, except with real harm.
What are the issues?
This is going to be a long trial, up to 6 weeks or more, so there's not going to be a summary of everything.
In 2016, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp divorced. During negotiations, she filed a restraining order claiming domestic abuse. At that time, her lawyers sent a letter to the Depp legal team which could be interpreted as a veiled threat, asking for a set sum of money in exchange for potentially problematic information from coming to light. She arrived at court with "bruises" on her body, which she claimed Depp caused. This garnered quite a bit of media attention. They settled their divorce, with Heard receiving $7 million which was to be given to charity. She never gave the money to the charities as promised.
In 2018, at the height of "me too", The Washington Post published a Heard-authored Op-Ed (allegedly co-written by the ACLU) in which she made claims of physical domestic abuse. She did not name Depp in the piece, but it was clear she was referring to him. Depp was quickly cancelled. He lost his role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. He also lost his role in the Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts series. British tabloid The Sun published an article in which Depp was labeled a "wife beater." Depp filed suit against Heard for defamation in Virginia (where WaPo is headquartered) and against The Sun in the UK.
The case against The Sun was settled by a judge (not a jury) in the UK, who determined the statements were not defamation and wrote that he believed Depp assaulted Heard. There was substantial evidence presented that Heard actually abused Depp, including recordings of her own statements. There are multiple inconsistencies in her accounts of abuse, including inconsistencies with other witnesses and police body cam footage. In one example, Heard claimed Depp punched her in the face on Dec 15, 2015 and left her with black eyes and a hurt nose. She appeared on James Corden's show the very next day, with no signs of injury. The makeup stylist testified there were no bruises or marks on her face. As it turns out, (internet rumor alert) the UK judge's relative is a partner in the law firm representing Heard and the judge's wife was apparently chummy with others involved in the case (unsubstantiated internet rumor with some variation). Judge should have recused himself, but did not. Heard was not a party in this case but was forced to testify.
Heard tried to have the case in Virginia thrown out in light of the UK verdict, but the judge refused to do so. Depp is having issues getting Heard to cooperate with court orders to turn over evidence.
Jury selection was today. The trial broadcast will start tomorrow morning. A lot of Hollywood and celebrity types have been subpoenaed.
Potential witnesses include:
James Franco
Elon Musk (had a fling with Heard)
Paul Bettany
Reps from the ACLU, Disney, Warner
Youtube lawyer LegalBytes has published a ton of videos on this case. She's got a pretty conservative take on things. Good channel.
Here's her broad overview:
And a summary of the allegations:
And here's hero Nick Rekeita's quite long, rambling, slightly drunken, yet entertaining stream on the topic:
