This does not mean that the matter is completely simple. Heard has admitted to hitting Depp and has been recorded for insulting and belittling him. The couple’s marriage counselor testified that they were guilty of “mutual abuse,” saying of Heard, “It was a point of pride for her, when she felt disrespected, to argue.”
Some domestic violence experts consider mutual abuse a myth, arguing that while both partners in a toxic relationship can behave horribly, one usually exercises power over the other. But even if you believe Heard acted unforgivably, the idea that she was the primary aggressor—against a larger man of far more resources who was shot cursing her for daring to speak in an “authoritative” manner—defies logic. above.
Indeed, one of the most brutal details of the trial — the one used to mock Heard in every form of media — might as well fit into a story about her victimization. Depp, as you may know, accused Heard or one of her friends of pooping in her bed as revenge, and his bodyguard said she confessed to a joke that got out of hand. Heard testified that one of their dogs, incontinent since eating Depp’s weed as a puppy, soiled the bed. “It wasn’t exactly a jovial time, and I don’t think that’s funny, period,” she said. “That’s disgusting.”
If she’s telling the truth, you’d be amazed at how thoroughly Depp and his team have tarnished her name. When Depp testified, the hashtags #AmberTurd and #MePoo shot across the internet. The image of Heard, a woman whose brand is bombshell blonde glamour, is now, perhaps permanently, linked to feces. If she’s not a psychopath, she’s the victim of some truly sadistic reputational damage.
It’s worth noting that Bot Sentinel, a group that tracks online disinformation and harassment, was hired by Heard’s lawyers in 2020 to analyze the social media campaign against her. “Everyone thinks any activity is bumping into them or whatever,” the group’s founder Chris Bouzy told me. But in this case, part of it was — Bouzy estimated there were 340 “inauthentic” Twitter accounts devoted to defaming Heard and bolstering petitions calling for her to be fired from acting and modeling gigs. “A small number of accounts can encourage conversations on Twitter,” he said.
But even if trolls and bots have helped dispel anti-Heard mania, there are clearly plenty of real people out there taking part. Some of them are obsessive Depp fans; as Kaitlyn Tiffany wrote in The Atlantic, there’s a history of online communities fixating “on theories that the male objects of their fandom were manipulated and tortured by lesser-known female romantic partners.”
However, there seems to be a broader misogynistic frenzy at work, a hallmark of the deeply reactionary moment we are living through. “She will hit the wall hard!!!” Depp wrote to Carino in the email. It seems he knew his audience.
