Johnny Depp Vs Amber Heard: Guess What, Nobody Won!

It's over. More than a sense of disgust or victory I felt relief as the verdict in the Johnny Depp Vs Amber Heard case was announced yesterday. For the past six weeks, the Internet has been tearing itself apart taking sides, making memes and pronouncing judgement on who was the abuser and who was the survivor here. Depp's fan brigade rejoiced as he was awarded a compensation of 15 million dollars, while Heard supporters went as far as to spell doom on the #MeToo Movement, even though she too was awarded two million dollars. So who won? Who lost? As the dust settles on this case and social media moves to greener pasture 24 hours after the verdict, we need to ask ourselves, is there a clear winner in the Depp Vs Heard defamation trial?

Depp, who gave us numerous critically acclaimed performances but has sadly been reduced by the pop culture to his popular role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, married Amber Heard, an emerging actor at that time, in 2015. The couple reportedly started dating in 2012. Just a year into the marriage, Heard filed for a divorce, also seeking a restraining order against her former husband over allegations of domestic abuse. In 2018, Heard wrote an OpEd for The Washington Post, in which she wrote that she became "a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out."

Depp and Heard sued each other for defamation, not for domestic abuse.

While Heard didn't name Depp in her column, this didn't stop the A-list Hollywood actor from suing his ex-wife for 50 million dollars on account of defamation. In retaliation, Heard sued Depp for 100 million dollars, accusing him of running a smear campaign against her. Read that again, because clearly many people haven't grasped what the case was actually about, despite having strong views about the case and its verdict. Depp and Heard sued each other for defamation, not for domestic abuse. What does that mean? It means that the verdict, in this case, isn't on whether Heard abused Depp or vice versa, but whether what they said about each other tarnished their reputation or not.

Suggested Reading: Why Is Amber Heard Verdict Being Used To Pass A Judgement On Feminism?

Both the parties have been instructed to monetarily compensate each other, you can read more about it here. But as soon as the verdict was announced, both the media and social media instantly declared Depp the winner of this case. Why? Because he was awarded more money, duh! But then isn't he a bigger celebrity than Heard? If you put their net earnings, their financial standing etc., into account, which was apparently affected due to the defamation, has Depp actually received as big a compensation as it is being made out to be?

Johnny Depp And Amber Heard, Hindustan Times

However, there are bigger issues at play here that need our attention. The Depp Vs. Heard trial- livestreamed to our smartphones, became a case study, in the worst way possible, for domestic abuse and gender dynamics. Hashtags like MenToo began trending. Social media announced that #MeToo was a dead movement and that this was a win for men who are preyed upon by opportunist women who spare no chance to play the so-called victim card. The truth lies somewhere in between and calls or deeper discourse, but social media is not a place where you go in search of objectivity and nuance.

According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey of 2o15, one in every four women in the United States has experienced intimate partner violence with some form of negative impact, be that fear, concern for their safety or injury and so have one in every ten men. Men and women both experience domestic violence and it is important that we recognise their ordeal on an equal footing and ensure that they get justice, irrespective of their gender. Equally true is the fact that in several cases intimate partner violence is bidirectional - with the involvement of both parties to varying degrees. She hit him. He hit her. They both hit each other. Pain and suffering lie at the core of each of these sentences and none of it is lesser than the other.

This is why it is not just Depp or Heard who have lost this trial, it is we as a society that have suffered the biggest blow. We tuned in to watch the consequences of a highly dysfunctional marriage. We replaced armchair activism with armchair justice. We celebrated or mourned the verdict in this case, focusing solely on the two people for whom it was all about their reputation. What's more, we let go of a great opportunity to create awareness about intimate partner violence and let TikTok trends, memes and reels shape the conversation instead.

Trends and campaigns will come and go. Social media will find a new war for us to fight every day, ensuring that we are constantly angry and baying for each other's blood. Celebrities will go back to minting money and preserving their reputation with tailored social media campaigns designed to benefit them and only them. Will the social structure change? Will survivors of domestic violence find the courage to speak up? Who is to say that our perception of the issue won't change with the next big celebrity court case? Where's justice? Where are the solutions? Where's the much-needed introspection?

The views expressed are the author's own.