‘Toxic catastrophe’: Johnny Depp won his case but everyone else loses

Washington: It didn’t take long after the verdict was handed down in the mutually destructive trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard for the court of public opinion to have its say.

A Change.org petition to dump Heard from her upcoming film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom edged towards its target of 4.5 million people.

On a typical day of the trial: Johnny Depp waves to supporters as he departs Fairfax County Courthouse on May 27.Credit: AP

Tarana Burke, co-founder of #MeToo, lamented the way the women’s movement had “been co-opted and manipulated” during the trial, describing this as a “toxic catastrophe.”

And high-profile figures across the US lashed out at Heard for “riding on the coat-tails” of “real battered women” in an apparent quest for revenge against her ex-husband.

“This woman lied over and over and over again!” conservative commentator Jeanne Pirro, a former New York State judge, furiously declared on the popular Fox talkshow The Five.

“Amber Heard… don’t give me this stuff that it’s a setback for women. You do not represent women, you represent the worst of women who try to falsely blame men!”

Thursday’s verdict brought an end to one of the most unedifying defamation trials in recent years: a toxic he-said/she-said battle by two former lovers trying to convince the world that they were the victim and the other was the aggressor.

But the six-week case was perhaps also one of the most polarising courtroom dramas since the trial of former American footballer OJ Simpson, who was acquitted in 1995 over the murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson.

Both involved abusive relationships and an ugly breakup. Both allowed cameras into the court to document the sad and twisted highlights. And in both cases, everyone seemed to have a hot take.

In between the war in Ukraine, the battle over abortion rights and the latest wave of mass shootings in America, it was segments from a wood-paneled courtroom in northern Virginia that seemed to captivate audiences the most, prompting a litany of TikTok memes, a Saturday Night Live sketch, and endless opinion pieces.

Part of it, of course, was the star power of Depp himself - a Hollywood celebrity who many had watched from his heartthrob years on 21 Jump Street to his swashbuckling shift as Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Part of it, too, was that many men and women could relate to what they were seeing. Maybe they’d endured abusive relationships of their own, felt they’d been maligned by the allegations of an ex, or battled the demons of a traumatic childhood as Depp had done. Or maybe they’d simply had a hideous divorce and found themselves thinking the inevitable: it could always be worse, right?

And part of it was also the fact that the trial gave the public a rare glimpse into the toxic soap opera of a celebrity couple who spent 15 months married - and every year since trying to destroy one another.

Celebrity bust-ups are intriguing at the best of times, but this one had all the makings of the proverbial car crash. No matter how awful, it was hard to look away.

Supporters of actor Johnny Depp rally outside of Fairfax County Courthouse as a jury was scheduled to hear closing arguments this month.Credit: AP

There were photos of faeces that Depp claimed were placed on his bed by Heard as an act of revenge. There was audio of Depp howling like a caged animal as he came down from a cocktail of drugs and alcohol on a flight from Boston to LA, after accusing Heard of having an affair with her co-star James Franco.

There was bloody evidence of a brawl in Australia, in which Depp claimed Heard had severed his finger after a fight. And there was horrifying testimony by Heard of being sexually assaulted by Depp with a liquor bottle during the same trip.

As a public figure, Depp faced a high bar to win his case, which centred on a 2018 Washington Post op-ed written by Heard titled, “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.

While the article never mentioned Depp by name, he argued it indirectly referred to allegations Heard made against him in 2016 when the couple divorced and she was granted a temporary restraining order after showing up to a California court with a bruised face, claiming that Depp had thrown a phone at her.

He described the allegations against him as disturbing, heinous and “not based in any species of truth”. Heard, in response, had counter-sued Depp over claims by his former lawyer that she was engaging in an “abuse hoax”.

In the end, the jury in Fairfax County - where Washington Post’s opinion pieces are published - found in his favour.

Heard was rewarded $US2 million in damages over a comment made by Depp’s ex lawyer, but the seven-person jury ruled against her on all three of Depp’s counts, finding that Heard had not only made false and defamatory statements, but that she’d done so with “malice” — a higher threshold for cases involving public figures.

Depp was ultimately awarded $US15 million, but the judge later reduced this to $US10.35 million due to caps on punitive damages under Virginia state law.

But after such a blockbuster trial, what happens next?

In terms of the legal process, Heard has already indicated that she will appeal the decision, with her lawyer Elaine Charlestone Bredehoft telling CNN that Depp’s “wealth, power and fame” had made a “huge difference” in the jury’s thinking.

In terms of the media, legal scholars have warned that a dangerous precedent may have been set, in which the US media could be successfully sued for an article - even if it doesn’t name a person and speaks about them in the most general terms. (Depp’s lawsuit was against Heard, not the Washington Post).

And when it comes to gendered violence more broadly, some say Depp’s win will encourage men to speak up about domestic abuse; others fear the verdict could have chilling implications for women survivors wanting to come forward.

Dr Jessica Taylor, a psychologist, feminist author and chief executive of VictimFocus told The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald that “women are pulling out of their cases, retracting statements, and are now terrified of being sued if they talk about their abuse or rape”.

“The last six weeks of this hearing have been torture for thousands of women and girls subjected to male violence,” she said.

“They have looked on as millions of observers - men and women - have laughed as they scrutinised everything from how a victim looks, moves, talks, and cries… It became apparent early on that the only winner here is Johnny Depp. If he won, he would be vindicated. If he lost, he would be positioned as a victim of an unfair system filled with toxic feminism.

“If she won, she would be hated and vilified. If she lost, she would be hated and vilified.”

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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