EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was published before the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial that took place from April to June 2022, and so does take into account the events and information disclosed to the public during it.
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to undermine assault victims or dismiss their case, but to shine a light on women wrongfully taking advantage of movements such as #MeToo. It is also to highlight the unfortunate stigma surrounding men when they reveal their assault stories.
It has been four years since Amber Heard filed for divorce and accused Johnny Depp of physical assault. On the 2nd of November, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor lost his court case for libel against him in an opinion article published by The Sun, a UK tabloid. Despite the amount of overwhelming evidence against Heard, Depp still lost the case, and the assumptions of physical assault against men did not help either.
However, there is another perspective to this case that deserves more attention: the stigma surrounding men when they come forward with assault stories. Situations like these are rare, in part due to the culture of toxic masculinity shaming men as ‘weak’ for being abused, hence lowering the chances of them telling the truth. Abuse in a relationship is never acceptable no matter who is inflicting it; men can be victims too, but the world seems to forget this.
The couple met in 2009 on the set of The Rum Diary and began dating by early 2012. Just before this, Amber Heard and Tasya Van Ree had just split up; in 2009, USA Today had reported that Heard was arrested for physically assaulting Van Ree at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. However, the charges were dropped when Van Ree said that Heard was ‘wrongfully’ accused by cops who ‘over-sensationalized’ the incident. After two years of romance, Heard and Depp got engaged in 2014 and had a private wedding ceremony in 2015.
On May 23rd, 2016, Heard filed for divorce, accused Depp of physical assault, and acquired a temporary restraining order against him. She claimed he had injured her during their marriage, often under the influence of drugs or alcohol; she also accused him of throwing his phone at her face which had bruised her eye. However, a police spokesman said that no crime had taken place upon further investigation. Come 2017, the divorce was finalized and Heard received 7 million dollars.
In December 2018, Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post saying she was abused despite the divorce agreement prohibiting both parties from speaking ill of each other. She stated that “I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out”.
Depp sued Heard for 10 million dollars for defamation over the article in the following year. During this, The Daily Mail reported Heard’s claims of still bearing scars on her arms and feet from an incident where Depp allegedly threw her through a ping pong table and dragged her feet through broken glass. From the same source, phone recordings were revealed in 2020 of Heard admitting that she hit him.
- Heard: I’m sorry that I didn’t … hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you’re not punched. I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you’re fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you.
- Depp: I’m scared to death we are a f***ing crime scene right now…
- Heard: I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again. God, I f***ing sometimes get so mad I lose it.
In these recordings, Heard reveals that she ‘can’t promise you I won’t get physical again’, implying that she has previously exhibited abusive behavior towards Depp. The next line (‘I lose it’) also indicates that she fails to control her actions. Heard has repeatedly admitted to abusing Depp. These snippets do not support Heard’s claims of physical abuse against her, but in fact, shed light on Depp’s affirmations.
On July 2nd, 2020, the ex-couple began a three-week trial. Both Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paridis, Depp’s exes, released statements defending Depp’s case, but Van Ree did not vindicate Heard. So far, Depp has alleged that Heard also defecated in his bed, punched him, and had affairs with James Franco and Elon Musk, which Heard at first denied. Text messages between Musk and Heard were read aloud in court, which then Heard claims that the affair only began after the divorce. Every accusation thrown across the bench had been denied by the other.
When Depp accused his ex-wife of abuse, tangible evidence was presented such as the text messages, a severed finger, and even faeces. Heard’s arguments were empty and far fetched with little to no evidence, and there have repeatedly been claims of her admitting to abuse. Heard has wrongfully used feminist movements such as the #MeToo movement and the domestic abuse stigma against women to cover for her and gain momentum for her accusations. This allows Heard to be shielded by the movement and invalidates real assault cases.
If people throw around false rape accusations, it becomes harder for outsiders to identify real cries for help. What Heard is doing is inhumane and dismisses real cases that require recognition. In situations like these, it becomes harder for the real victim to be shown because it is universally agreed to believe the victim first.
On November 2nd, 2020, it was announced that Depp had lost the libel case against The Sun. This forced him to resign from a few upcoming movies; he was unnecessarily compelled to sustain damage to his career. Liberals and feminists alike have begun encouraging men to come out and reveal their stories to fight the oppressive culture of assault against males. The old, patriarchal regime harms men as well but is rarely talked about. Society cannot claim to be progressive while choosing to ignore victims.
We have created a custom where we first believe the victim in assault cases. This is beneficial for the most part, as most women and men tend not to lie about something as serious as this, and perpetrators can be brought to justice with this mentality. However, in the rare case, such as this one, where a woman is falsely accusing a man of assault, it becomes incredibly difficult to identify the real victim and demeans the values of the feminist movement. The purpose of the #MeToo movement and other organizations is to highlight real victims, not for women to destroy a man’s career with a personal vendetta.