The texts began blowing up my telephone Wednesday whereas I was ready for my son’s faculty bus. As a divorce coach and advocate for abuse victims, I do know a lot of girls who have been rocked by the jury siding with Johnny Depp in his defamation swimsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard.
“The award for Best Actor in a Defamation Lawsuit goes to Johnny Depp for fooling the jury, judge, media and the court of public opinion,” a girl in divorce proceedings with a high-conflict accomplice instructed me. She, like many different purchasers, was outraged that Depp acquired a $15 million verdict as a result of Heard wrote in a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post that she was a “public figure representing domestic abuse” and “had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.” (Though she by no means named Depp, she was extensively perceived as referring to him; he has denied all allegations of abuse.)
As actions to reform our household courtroom system develop louder, this celeb trial introduced the pervasive energy dynamic often behind closed doorways proper into our dwelling rooms.
I was additionally shocked by the result — however I don’t see the verdict as an absolute win akin to one in all Depp’s triumphant scenes from “Pirates of the Caribbean.” And that’s not simply because Heard, too, obtained a judgment in her favor as a part of her countersuit: $2 million for Depp’s lawyer’s assertion that the actress had organized an ambush for the police to entice Depp.
The larger injury to Depp is that he can by no means salvage his popularity. He claimed his picture was destroyed by Heard’s op-ed, however the true destruction truly got here by way of the revelations made on the trial. Despite the male star’s fan base, many individuals won’t ever take a look at his beloved character Captain Jack the identical means once more — if he’ll ever be allowed to reprise the position.
“Even when you win, you lose,” Domenic Romano, a high enterprise and leisure lawyer in New York City instructed me. “This may be a legal victory, but it’s not really a reputational victory, and definitely not a moral victory for Johnny Depp or society at large.”
Romano did credit score Depp’s workforce with persuading the jury that he was extra plausible than Heard — sufficient to succeed in the upper authorized normal of defamation (“actual malice”) that’s utilized to public figures.
But it got here at a excessive worth. “I thought this whole thing was a terrible idea for him. I mean how do you look good?” Romano requested, citing the soiled laundry aired in London, the place Depp misplaced a 2020 libel case against The Sun newspaper for calling him a “wife beater.” Then, Romano mentioned, Depp proceeded to “bring it back to shore” with this lawsuit in a Virginia courtroom.
Among that laundry was the picture of Depp writing profane messages on the wall in his personal blood, his texts saying he hoped Heard’s “rotting corpse is decomposing in the f—ing trunk of a Honda Civic” and his drug use.
Heard didn’t come off as an angel, after all, since she admitted hitting Depp and never donating all of her divorce settlement to charity as promised. But the social media frenzy surrounding her stumbles took on a lifetime of its personal — full with TikTok movies mocking Heard with “turd” emojis and championing Depp like he was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The indisputable fact that so many Americans discovered pleasure in folks’s home ache retraumatized victims. Many abuse survivors are actually anxious that Depp’s courtroom victory appears to undermine the #MeToo motion by scaring them again into a cave of silence.
“Survivors of domestic violence have been set back decades,” mentioned Tina Swithin, who based One Mom’s Battle after a authorized battle along with her ex. “The message that was sent loud and clear is that if you are a victim of abuse, you must remain silent about what you’ve endured or you will be subjected to the wrath of public opinion, and you may be further abused as perpetrators will now weaponize the judicial system.”
But I feel it is going to mobilize ladies like by no means earlier than. As actions to reform our household courtroom system develop louder, this celeb trial introduced the pervasive energy dynamic often behind closed doorways proper into our dwelling rooms. People throughout America noticed what these of us who’ve survived the household courtroom system face each day: energy within the palms of males, cash shopping for larger authorized groups, charming narcissism and determination makers who don’t see by way of a manipulator’s five-star efficiency. We can’t let one battle determine the battle.
“In the larger scheme, I do not think this will set back the MeToo movement,” Romano agreed. He famous that the majority defamation circumstances don’t contain folks already within the highlight, and accusers will suppose twice about damaging their popularity the best way Depp did. “People will see it’s not a great idea to litigate a personal relationship. Victims will continue to be rightfully emboldened to come forward.”
Romano calls it a traditional “Pyrrhic victory” — a win that inflicts such a catastrophic toll that it’s roughly a defeat. If you haven’t learn your Greek mythology lately, it comes from the story of Pyrrhus of Epirus who engaged in ruinous, pricey battles with the Romans. Essentially, victory at any price finally means defeat.
Don’t get me fallacious — most victims of emotional and bodily abuse don’t really feel impressed proper now. And many, like me, are livid.
But we have now two decisions: Either retreat out of worry, or use this case as a possibility to coach others. More home violence legal guidelines — like my state of Connecticut’s groundbreaking Jennifers’ Law that took impact final October — are increasing to make emotional abuse like “coercive control” a consideration in issuing restraining orders and making judgments in household courtroom circumstances. The downside is that, as issues stand, many attorneys, judges and common Americans sitting on juries don’t acknowledge it once they see it. This case could possibly be what lastly brings understanding about this dynamic.
Coercive management is a type of psychological hurt that may embody manipulation, monetary abuse, authorized abuse and utilizing kids as pawns. If you don’t acknowledge this insidious sport, sure, Heard may look loopy and terrible in her reactions. She might not be our favourite sufferer, however the query is: Why does she need to be?
Heard has vowed to attraction, although Romano mentioned there must be vital new proof or testimony, or an error within the trial, for her to succeed.
Meanwhile, the remainder of us will get busy. We need to keep in mind that each single hard-fought motion in our nation was not a straight line — extra like a rollercoaster. Strap in.