Over the long holiday weekend, and into the start of Pride Month, followers of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial have been keeping a watchful eye for the held-over jury to return with a verdict. Wednesday afternoon that verdict was handed down in favor of Depp.
"The disappointment I feel today is beyond words," Heard wrote in a statement after the verdict was delivered. "I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.
"I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously."
— Amber Heard (@realamberheard) June 1, 2022
RELATED: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's ongoing defamation trial: Here's everything you need to know
Determining that Heard had acted with "malice" in a 2018 op-ed she wrote about Depp for The Washington Post in which she detailed abuse suffered during their marriage and called for him to pay her $15 million in damages, the verdict awarded her $2 million in compensatory damages for her counterclaim, according to Variety, while awarding Depp with $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
Just as the verdict itself was in favor of Depp, many reactions shot off on Twitter skewed in that direction as well.
The official Twitter account for the House Judiciary GOP reacted to the verdict with a fan GIF of Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films.
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) June 1, 2022
Trump-endorsed author, Nick Adams, calls the verdict, "A win for all men who have been wrongfully accused of sexual assault."
Amber Heard’s GUILTY Verdict is a win for all men who have been wrongfully accused of sexual assault.
— Nick Adams (@NickAdamsinUSA) June 1, 2022
Johnny Depp didn’t just do this for himself, he did it for mankind.
Pop culture commentator, Andy Signore, posted a screenshot of Heard's statement with photoshopped red editor's "corrections," referring to her evidence as "lies" and Depp's power as "the truth."
Yo @realamberheard we fixed your statement for you. No charge. #JusticeForJohnnyDepp Was Served! https://t.co/SBLih0sm3L pic.twitter.com/komqBMgCv1
— Andy Signore (@andysignore) June 1, 2022
Comedian Andy Milonakis quips that Heard, "seems like the type of girl that would call Johnny Depp after the lawsuit is over and see if he wants to get back together."
Amber Heard seems like the type of girl that would call Johnny Depp after the lawsuit is over and see if he wants to get back together
— Andy Milonakis (@andymilonakis) May 28, 2022
Host of "Human Rights," Jack Posobiec, calls for the ACLU to apologize to Depp.
Hi @ACLU! Are you going to apologize to Johnny Depp for helping Amber Heard write lies about him?
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 1, 2022
Give Johnny his money back. Every cent.
Even Donald Trump Jr. is celebrating Depp's win, echoing Chris Rock's joke, "Believe all women . . . except Amber Heard," and adding, "$15,000,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to Depp, and perhaps a case that could end the effective rabid femminist notion that all men are guilty before being proven innocent that we've seen as of late."
Believe all women... except Amber Heard.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 1, 2022
$15,000,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to Depp, and perhaps a case that could end the effective rabid femminist notion that all men are guilty before being proven innocent that we've seen as of late.
She's just that terrible!
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Depp, basking in the support, posted a statement on Instagram after the verdict reading, "Six years later, the jury gave me my life back . . . I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up.
"I also hope that the position will now return to innocent until proven guilty, both within the courts and in the media. . . .The best is yet to come," he adds.
Musician Ryan Adams, the center of abuse allegations himself, reacted to Depp's statement on Instagram by posting a string of supportive emojis.
ryan adams has been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 7 women and this was his response to johnny depp on instagram in case you thought abusers don’t stick together pic.twitter.com/OAW0cBvTSt
— the blowout (@theblowout) June 1, 2022
While the reactions in favor of Depp make the weight of the jury's verdict feel extra heavy, those who are coming forward in support of Heard show signs of hopefulness that women who bravely speak out against their abusers aren't always up against the seemingly immovable wall of the judicial system, and the darker side of public opinion.
Moira Donegan, a gender and politics columnist for The Guardian, took to Twitter to say "If women can't speak about their experiences of gender abuse without incurring ruinous defamation suits, then functionally that speech by women is not free."
If women can’t speak about their experiences of gender abuse without incurring ruinous defamation suits, then functionally that speech by women is not free.
— Moira Donegan (@MoiraDonegan) June 1, 2022
Ej Dickson, a senior writer for Rolling Stone, reminds us of the vast amount of evidence Heard had against Depp, which was ultimately not enough to sway the jury's decision.
Amber Heard had more evidence than 99.999% of domestic abuse survivors have to support her claims of abuse and a jury still found her guilty of defamation.
— Ej Dickson (@ejdickson) June 1, 2022
Meanwhile, the person she accused could not be bothered to even show up to court.
We hate women so much in this country.
Jessica DeFino, a beauty critic for The New York Times and other outlets, responded to the verdict with a thread pin-pointing how society simply wants women to give up and shut up.
they all send the same message, there's only one way to be a woman in this country: to give up, to shut up, to shrink. to be property, an object, a plaything. to empty your head & surrender your body to the state until it kills you.
— Jessica DeFino (@jessicadefino_) June 1, 2022
Isaac Chotiner, a New Yorker staff writer, comments that cheering for Depp is "less morally grotesque than going to a fascist rally or something."
I suppose being outside the courtroom cheering for Johnny Depp is less morally grotesque than going to a fascist rally or something, but in terms of just being an absolutely pathetic loser, it’s hard to think of something really equivalent.
— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) June 1, 2022
Taylor Lorenz, a writer for The Washington Post, highlights one of the most dire aspects of this verdict, the fact that hundreds of abuse victims are pulling out of court cases after seeing the results of this trial.
"Hundreds" of domestic violence survivors have already retracted victim statements & pulled out from court cases as a result of watching the trial https://t.co/9nPk9NOshT
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) June 1, 2022
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