Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s Responses to the Ruling are Telling – Opinion

People were not surprised that Johnny Depp was convicted in his defamation case against Amber Heard. Depp appeared to be the person everyone supported, as evident by the reactions of people throughout the trial. Heard was the subject of suspicions that many people confirmed as they went along. It was likely that she was a manipulative lieur who abuse Depp and then tried to destroy him in court of public opinion.

“With actual malice” is the ax that came down on Heard’s figurative neck.

But if you’re looking to see if the jury’s decision was the right one, I might direct you to their responses. As Bonchie covered in his own article, Heard’s statement was, for lack of a better term, pretty standard fare for a social justice advocate that didn’t get her way. It was a loss that all women suffered, as she pointed out.

(READ: Amber Heard Issues a Statement and Identifies the Reasons She Loses to Johnny Depp

She wrote that the verdict “sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated,” and added Depp’s lawyers got the jury “to overlook the key issue of freedom of speech.”

Only no one is attempting to limit Heard’s freedom of speech, nor any woman who wants to come forward to tell about their abuse at the hands of a psychotic significant other. It’s an odd statement to make, but it fits with what we’ve seen from Heard so far. It’s dramatizing the situation…badly.

Depp’s statement, on the other hand, reads more honest.

Depp mentions that for six years, he’d been the victim of a culture that believed the smears before the facts, and now with this verdict, he can truly begin to rebuild his life.

This line, in particular, really hits home for today’s society:

“I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men and 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.”

BREAKING NEWS: Johnny Depp issues a statement and blasts media for cancelling culture. He says that we must return to the standard of Innocent Before Proven Guilty pic.twitter.com/GH8QAZhjsn

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 1, 2022

You can see the emphasis on both of them. While they both placed a lot of emphasis on their own involvement, Heard was more focused on Heard’s false idea (free speech for women). This makes little sense. Depp, however, wanted that someone simple would be available to all; that they were innocent until proven guilty.

Depp saw his life fall apart because of insinuations about his abuser, who was believed because of her social identity. He lost his career and was turned away by studios because they believed a story before the facts.

How many people have been in Depp’s position in some way, shape, or form? Many people have lost their jobs and become pariahs due to the fact that someone who had a bone in his side suggested that they are the “bad guy”. It’s a sad reality that we have lived in a society where we’re ready to “believe all women” before we even see the facts. Although it has improved over the years, there is still fear about cancel culture.

The trial shows that society took a wrong turn. Before guilt can be proven, it is necessary to first get the facts straight. Depp’s wish that this would happen not only for one but for the entire society is very telling. This is an inspiring story that we need to think about in the future when considering these issues. Depp’s response is for everyone. It’s not political as Heard’s definitely is. In fact, it’s anti-political.

Depp’s response is that of a man who just wants the truth to set him free, and thankfully, it did.