As you will likely know, Johnny Depp won his lawsuit against Amber Heard. Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media have found a way to somehow turn this into a massive defeat for women everywhere.
And now, after seven weeks and dozens of witnesses, the jury in the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation trial has ruled in favour of Depp, finding that a Washington Post editorial that Heard wrote defamed him.
[…] Amber Heard sat quietly, barely moving, as the court upheld Johnny Depp’s libel action against her, finding her claim in an article she wrote that she was “a public figure representing domestic abuse” was baseless.
[…] Amber Heard left the court without a word, but in a statement said she was heartbroken and disappointed.
She said: “I’m even more disappointed what this verdict means for other women… It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.”
If you make false allegations then getting caught out is one of the risks you take.
[…] Depp quickly won public support. Every day he was greeted by cheering fans and #JusticeForJohnny was trending, shared by more than a billion people.
So let me get this straight. A female celebrity is found to have made false accusations of violence against a male celebrity and somehow this makes her the victim because those in the court of public opinion post mean things about her on social media. And somehow this is harmful to all women and girls?
Heard, however, was vilified online. The Guardian’s headline on Thursday read the trial was an orgy of misogyny. Feminist groups say the public backlash has been a massive hit to the #MeToo movement.
“Many young people and children are accessing a lot of these platforms where content is being created, shared, amplified, that it’s really, really enforcing harmful attitudes, gender stereotypes and myths around rape, sexual violence and all forms of violence against women and girls,” said Deniz Ugur of End Violence Against Women.
Depp is a victim of false accusations. He is the victim here.
There is also the implication that women are such snowflakes that even the thought that others may say negative things about them on social media if they dare complain about violence will force them to be silent.
Those like Ugur seem to also have no regard for those falsely accused who suffer abuse on social media.
There are already reports Amber Heard will appeal.
Good luck with that.