Lucy Carne: Johnny Depp’s court case makes a mockery of domestic violence claims
Regardless of who did what to whom, Johnny Depp’s libel trial should be a serious scrutiny of abuse allegations. Instead it’s become a must-watch for all the wrong reasons, writes Lucy Carne.
Opinion
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Have you finished Netflix? Can’t get to the cinema? Need your next must-watch blockbuster?
Have you heard of the gripping tale of revenge, insanity, beautiful women and drugs (lots of drugs) set against the backdrop of a Gold Coast mansion?
It’s currently playing in London’s High Court.
The biggest English libel trial of the 21st century, starring Johnny Depp against British newspaper The Sun, is set to enter its fourth week, and features the man famed as Captain Jack Sparrow suing the tabloid over a headline alleging the actor was a “wife beater”.
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In the witness box against him has been Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard, the stunning bisexual star of, well, no one can really remember any of her films.
Heard, 34, has channelled Disney’s heroic princess Elsa with her messy side braid. Depp has turned up to court looking like a sullied version of that British judge from House Rules with a cigarillo hanging from his lips.
We’ve heard allegations that Depp, 57, threatened to kill his then-wife, dragged her across the ground by her hair, repeatedly punched her, headbutted her, threw a bottle of champagne at her, tried to strangle her, attempted to suffocate her with a pillow and kept her in a “three-day hostage situation” in Queensland as he filmed Pirates of the Caribbean, all of which he denies.
Heard has admitted she punched Depp and allegedly hit him with a bottle that severed his finger.
But who is really paying attention to these details of alleged domestic violence, when the cast of supporting characters has been so mesmerising?
Special mention must go to the tampon applicator that appeared in photo evidence claiming to be Depp’s “lunch” and which he allegedly uses to snort cocaine.
The reference to Leonardo Di Caprio as “pumpkin head” was script gold and the love letter written with a bloodied finger stump and alleged threat to microwave two miniature Yorkshire terriers are details even Tarantino couldn’t make up.
But it was Depp’s demands to DNA test a large pile of faeces left in his bed that was the plot twist no one saw coming. Who is going to quickly forget “Amber Turd”?
I spent a few years interviewing Hollywood stars at film sets and luxury hotels in London and Paris. You quickly got to know who the difficult ones were (like the Oscar winner who was five hours late) or the creeps (like the superstar who made his assistant leave the room and then body blocked me into a sofa as his hand crept down my arm before I swiftly cut the interview short) or the just plain rude (like the supermodel-dating actor who spent the entire interview with his feet on the table, checking his BlackBerry and scratching his maracas).
But Depp? He was the nice guy. Up there with Tom Hanks (the loveliest gentleman) and Martin Scorsese (that laugh).
Depp would greet journalists with big hugs and ask about your family. He would remember you (or at least pretend to) from previous interviews.
When we chatted 10 years ago for the box office flop The Tourist, Depp seemed happily married to Vanessa Paradis, with whom he was raising their then young children out of the spotlight in secluded France.
Depp was more interested in talking to me about how expensive cotton pyjamas helped cure his insomnia.
So when the claims of abuse first surfaced, they were hard to believe.
But then, how does a chat in Le Meurice hotel a decade ago qualify me – or anyone – to judge the veracity of allegations.
Just because someone is a famous actor (or not), or are a man or woman, should not influence their right to be believed.
And that is the problem with this whole desperately tragic mess.
Regardless of who is lying or who attacked who, Heard and Depp have let down all survivors of domestic violence. Not since Nigella Lawson was strangled at a footpath cafe have we been confronted with a celebrity case of appalling domestic violence allegations.
But rather than this be a serious reflection on the curse of abuse, it has become a titillating circus.
We seem more shocked by a photograph of an unconscious Depp wearing melted ice cream in his lap than we are by claims hair was ripped from a scalp or a finger severed.
“The trivialisation of domestic violence has the potential to send the message to a victim to not bother coming forward as no one will take them seriously,” Red Rose Foundation managing director Betty Taylor warns.
“The most important thing for victims of domestic violence is when they start to speak out, they need people to believe it and take it seriously.”
This case should matter.
But when it becomes a must-watch mockery of domestic violence allegations, all victims suffer.
For support phone 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732, Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.