Depp Vs Heard: Can we handle a sequel?

By now everyone knows there is no real winner in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard case, where they took each other to court. That the case went technicolour and 70mm, amplified by recordings and headlines, via a live relay, with a nail-biting finish only adds to the bizarre nature of the whole trial. Which went from ‘he said, she said’ to what we are saying and will say for a long time.

The word ‘abuse’ was freely abused as the couple’s lawyers melodramatically presented evidence and testimony and witnesses. The cataloguing included hitting, punching, sliced fingers, drugs, swearing, trashing rooms and even a ‘who did this in my bed?’ Donations went missing. Supermodel Kate Moss put in a guest appearance via Zoom to say no, he did not push me down any stairs. Earlier, when Heard alluded to Moss’ fall during the time Depp dated the latter, his team could be seen celebrating, knowing Moss would be called in and that she would say the truth. A truth Heard dismisses, along with all of Depp’s truths, as power play, as stardom.

Fast-forward to who won, and the answers reveal more about us as a people. Some choose to focus on what he won in compensation ($15 million), some on what she won ($2 million), and yet others on how who won what is irrelevant in the face of the ridiculous amount of inhumanity that was on display by the main protagonists, their supporters, and us, the onlookers. Heard and Depp were both found guilty of defamation by the US jury, but he won more in damages than her, coronating him the king in this particular bloodshed. His fans are delirious! They are hoping Depp will hook up with his lawyer.

Feminists have gone into a huddle. They would rather focus on the damages Heard won, however puny, proving she was wronged too, and perhaps wronged more than this trial or judgment would let on. Here too women are divided: those who believe Heard and worry that all abused women out there are now at risk of being disbelieved and those who doubt her narrative and fear that genuine victims will be affected. Either way, not a good look for their gender.