Johnny Depp, Amber Heard trial verdict: ‘Devastating’ impact of result on victim-survivors

Johnny Depp’s defamation case against Amber Heard may have come to an end, but the jury’s ruling sets a “dangerous” precedent.

Not much has dominated the public conversation over the past six weeks like the defamation trial launched by Johnny Depp against his ex-wife of 15 months, Amber Heard.

What Full Stop Australia CEO Hayley Foster described to news.com.au as a “harrowing case” finally came to a close in the early hours of this morning, when the jury ruled in favour of the Pirates of the Caribbean star.

Heard was ordered to pay Depp US$10 million (A$14 million) in defamation compensatory damages and US$5 million in punitive damages after the jury decided she “acted with actual malice” when she identified herself – without naming her ex-husband – as a “public figure representing domestic violence” in a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post.

The trial may have come to an end, but the effect the case – and the treatment of it as pure entertainment, to be memefied, remixed and revelled in – has had on victims speaking out, Ms Foster said, is yet to be seen, though it’s fair to say it will be both “devastating” and “chilling”.

“People who have been impacted by domestic abuse will have a legitimate fear that not only will they be disbelieved, [but] that they will be blamed, and that they will be torn to shreds – that their very character and integrity will be torn to shreds,” she explained.

“And I think that that’s the thing – we have some really problematic attitudes in the community. First of all, the fact that one in five Australians actually think that it’s common and that women often make up or exaggerate claims of abuse to gain advantage, and that’s simply not the case.

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Johnny Depp gestures to spectators in court after closing arguments at Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse. Picture: Steve Helber/AFP

Actor Amber Heard was ordered to pay Depp US$10 million in defamation compensatory damages. Picture: Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP

“But there's also really strong attitudes around in the community, there is this sort of idea of the ‘perfect victim’, that is sort of meek and mild in the corner and behaving perfectly at all times, and that’s just not the case in reality.

“And so people feel, legitimately, that if they were to speak out about what had happened to them, that they would be judged for the way they responded to that abuse, whether that be by fighting back or resisting, or trying to harm the person that has harmed them so badly as part of an attempt to regain some degree of power and autonomy over themselves.”

Not every – if any – defamation trial would play out at the scale that this one has. Yet it’s still a reflection of the experiences of hundreds of thousands of women: Depp isn’t the first alleged perpetrator to sue his alleged victim for speaking up, and he won’t be the last.

“People are saying, ‘Well this isn’t a typical case’,” Ms Foster said.

“Well, it’s not typical that it’s splashed across the pages of tabloids, but in terms of what happens behind closed doors when there’s abuse, it is messy. But that does not mean that there wasn’t an abuse of power in that relationship.”

As one victim-survivor told Rolling Stone, the trial was her “worst fear playing out on a public stage”. “[It] tells me that [my ex] was right. If he chose to, he could destroy and humiliate me beyond repair.”

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard will move on with their lives in whatever way possible. But remember this: The memes and the jokes - that stays. And it tells people of all genders, but especially women, that if they disclose violence to you, you just might laugh at their expense.

— Tarang / तरंग (@tarang_chawla) June 2, 2022

I’ve never seen a domestic violence case played out in the public eye quite on this level before, and it’s been jarring and scary to see how people - especially young people - have reacted. And it’s caused irrevocable damage to how the public views domestic violence forever.

— Rossalyn Warren (@RossalynWarren) June 1, 2022

“Survivors watching this will rethink everything they say out loud about what happened to them, and the potential of being sued and dragged through a court process for saying something they know is true, but they could be found guilty of defamation"

— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) June 1, 2022

What a relief that we have demonstrably instructed an entire generation of future victim-survivors that speaking out against abuse runs the risk of making you the most hated woman in the world

— Sally Spicer (@SallySpicer4) June 1, 2022

Another – who faced a defamation claim after coming forward against her own abuser, only for the claim to be dropped – told the publication that while the verdict was not “unexpected”, it’s still “horrible”.

“I feel really glad to think my case didn’t go ahead,” she said. “And stupid to think I could have won it. Men always win.”

“Hundreds” of survivors in the US have already contacted psychologist and author, Dr Jessica Taylor, wishing to retract public statements they’ve made in the press about their abusers, or pulling out of court cases against them.

“Survivors watching this will rethink everything they say out loud about what happened to them, and the potential of being sued and dragged through a court process for saying something they know is true, but they could be found guilty of defamation,” Dr Taylor told Rolling Stone.

“It’s a scary place to be.”

It might not’ve been happening in our backyard, but it’s a similar story in Australia, Ms Foster said, with “many, many survivors” calling Full Stop’s counselling lines “in distress just at the commentary throughout” the trial. The service is expecting “quite a lot of extra calls today from people who have been impacted by the decision”.

“It is devastating. And we know, we absolutely know from the survivors that are contacting our phone line, that this has had a massive impact on them,” she added.

“What we’re hearing is a lot of fear, and a sense of shame and silencing.”

That sense of fear and shame has partially been borne from the social media circus that’s ensued since April 11, one that’s made it hard to dismiss the case, sex and culture critic Ella Dawson wrote on Patreon this morning, as just “an elaborate celebrity farce, the private mess of a has-been movie star and his C-list ex-wife”.

For weeks, hashtags like #AmberTurd, #AmberHeardIsALiar, and #JusticeForJohnny have trended on Twitter; after the verdict, #MenToo and #BelieveAllWomen (co-opted by people declaring how the jury’s ruling showed why we shouldn’t) joined their ranks.

As for TikTok, it’s been a hellhole – audio of Heard crying became a trend, while text on one viral clip supporting Depp, superimposed over her bruised face, read: “He could have killed you. He had every right.”

“Heard may never see those horrible comments, but other victims and survivors of domestic violence do see them … As the internet turns against Heard, victims get a front-row seat to how they too can be discredited,” Dawson said.

“The misinformation and turmoil around the Depp/Heard trial will insidiously damage the way we think about and talk about abuse and sexual violence for decades. It will indirectly hurt millions of victims who feel less safe getting help, speaking up, and seeking justice.”

“The misinformation and turmoil around the Depp/Heard trial will insidiously damage the way we think about and talk about abuse and sexual violence for decades.” Picture: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Asked whether the commentary around – and outcome of – the trial had set the conversation around domestic violence, and victim-survivors, back, Ms Foster said it was “hard not to draw that conclusion”.

“We’ve obviously seen a huge swing in awareness and public opinion when it comes to the MeToo Movement, but when things like this happen, certainly, by very definition, we’ve been set back,” she added.

“Because survivors are calling us more frightened than ever about speaking out around their experiences. So yeah, it has had a chilling effect, and it does feel as though it’s swinging the pendulum back the other way.”

The most important message for victim-survivors to hear today, she said, is that “this is current, this is endemic, and that our services are available 24/7”.

“People can access support to tell their story safely, and that may be in an identified or de-identified way, but making sure people have access to free legal advice, around knowing their rights and what they can and can’t say within the current laws, is really important,” Ms Foster said.

“But also knowing that there are other means and laws to speak out about your experiences to effect change.”