The Assassination of Amber Heard

Nobody deserves to be abused. However, her lying on the stand does affect her credibility as a witness. If she lies about things like guitar playing that are easily verified, it raises questions about what else she might be lying about. I'm not saying she is or isn't lying about the abuse but she isn't doing herself any favours when she knowingly lies and gets caught out. I don't even understand why she would lie about something like that. What's the point.

I agree OP.

I am sure there is some exaggeration on her part, but there is certainly more than enough evidence verified by third parties that he was physically abusive towards her.

Yes I'm sure she behaved badly in the relationship too, it was a toxic relationship, in a destructive cycle. She's not a perfect victim - no woman ever is.

I don't know what the truth is but I've made some observations.

By default I believe that his behaviour while drinking and doing drugs was emotionally abusive. I have been in a relationship with someone who was a gambling addict and whilst it's a different type of addiction, I know how it felt to be treated in the way I was treated - a total head f* and I felt emotionally abused in many ways, desperate to escape but feeling trapped. I think that being in a relationship with someone who is a drug addict must completely wreck you - add in a bit of celebrity status and it must be maximised. I hope that she's getting counselling and support for what she's been through as I imagine it's mentally impacted her.

There are some things she's said that don't make sense to me. Her account to me seems mismatched to the audio recordings. In some cases it feels as if she is trying to goad him. It's also not clear to me why she had so much alleged evidence and then waited so long to use it. In one of her recordings she says "how do i take it back", I'm not sure why she would say that. It's also unclear to me why she would instigate a meeting with him in San Francisco when he was not supposed to be near her. In the court she backed away from him, behaving as if she were scared, but went to meet him alone in San Francisco. I'm curious about these things as they don't make sense to me.

Without considering whether either of them were abused for a moment, her accounts seem strange and manipulative in some cases.

I have a family member who was sexually abused for a long time, quite seriously at a young age and when they talk about it, it takes great effort and they are very withdrawn. I'm sure without a doubt that how people deal with abuse varies from person to person, but its very difficult for me to watch Amber speak so openly and fluently in such detail and understand how she is able to do that.

I believe they were both emotionally abused by the other but I'm not too sure about the physical abuse. The strong views from people that someone is abusive before a verdict has been given (whether they be male or female) does concern me as equally as it does at the thought that she or he might be lying. I personally think that whatever the outcome of this case, it won't do abuse victims in general any favours.

The thing that makes me feel sick is that people are holding AH to a much higher standard.

why they feel the need to take his side? they don’t know him, he’s not their friend. Stop with the fawning (because that’s how it looks).

I find it interesting that despite being an excellent actor, he's not acting on the stand, and she is.

He's not exaggerating and she is.

I've even seen a sm clip making out she's disrespectful because she didn't realise the judge had entered while writing notes and sitting the far side of the court. JD is 'amazing' because he wasn't writing notes, sitting more centrally and saw and stood up.

The propaganda machine is insane.

She was arrested for DV in here previous marriage.

And yet

Van Ree issued a statement that Heard had been "wrongfully" accused and that the incident had been "misinterpreted and over-sensationalized".[93][94]

From wiki with references. Amber was arrested for allegedly grabbing and "hitting" van ree's arm. Never charged.

There's a deliberate bias in the narratives being peddled. this incident at an airport, apparently reported by people wanting to smear Amber (see Reddit info upthread) is seen as DV when raping with a bottle is not.

WTAF.

There seems to be 25 different versions of the finger thing.

Isn't this victim blaming?

This would have been an example of him still controlling her after they've split.

I don’t particularly care for either of them, since the whole taking their dogs to Australia and posting a very mocking video about it at the time, but these last few weeks have felt like licensed misogyny.

Thank god, finally a sane thread on this. I am disgusted by some people's loyalty to JD.

The fact that people believe 23 year old Amber Heard managed to manipulate, gaslight and abuse JD while he cowered in a corner and his security just stood and watched it happed is farcical.

When they met JD was more than twice her age, an A list celebrity, had more money than sense and had connections with powerful people all over the world. She was a 23 year old unknown actress. He had all the power in the relationship.

Still, people would rather believe she’s some sort of super villain who hatched a plan years in advance to frame JD by sending text messages talking about the abuse, taking fake photos of herself with black eyes, and talking to her therapist about the sexual assaults just so she could bring it up years later in a court case!!!

She told her therapists about the rapes when they happened years ago. She never once brought those allegations public. We’re only hearing about them now because he forced her hand by forcing her to have to defend herself in court.

I'm incredibly uncomfortable with AH being in public court and televised trial reliving sexual assault. Its incredibly damaging to her and women who may continue to choose not to report assault and violence. It's a circus not of her making.

I can't agree with this. She just went through a well publicised divorce and then wrote a piece about being in a domestic violence situation. You don't need to be an Einstein to figure out who she was talking about. Did she really think someone so apparently violent and unhinged as Depp would not come after her? She'd have been better to have kept her word and given money to the domestic abuse charity as promised, whilst working alongside victims. If she'd done that, her presence would have conveyed the truth of her marriage and would have done more to help the cause than this shambles has done.

@whatever1980 I looked it up online and read it, sorry can't seem to link it. Just search for Washington Post Amber Heard Op-Ed.

The way Depp is presenting is incredibly immature. He's an addict. The different songs played as he arrives each morning. The jokes. Regardless of whether AH also committed violence he did some horrific things which have been captured on screen. He doesn't appear repentant or ashamed for the part he played in this toxic marriage.

If AH is making it up, most of this would apply to her too.

Referencing a PP, if JD is abusing AH and she hits him, it's retaliation. But if AH is abusing JD and he hits her, what's that? Genuine question, as there audio evidence where she has hit him [first].

Ah okay @VestofAbsurdity

What did the piece say and will same principles as uk case apply? Ie that if some of the violence against AH can be proven then the piece is substantially correct (even though he isn't named)?

I'm incredibly uncomfortable with AH being in public court and televised trial reliving sexual assault. Its incredibly damaging to her and women who may continue to choose not to report assault and violence. It's a circus not of her making.

The way Depp is presenting is incredibly immature. He's an addict. The different songs played as he arrives each morning. The jokes. Regardless of whether AH also committed violence he did some horrific things which have been captured on screen. He doesn't appear repentant or ashamed for the part he played in this toxic marriage.

Jeez what's embarrassing and has the likelihood of causing problems for women in the future, is this rampant support for Heard simply because she has a vagina. She is an abuser. Not just an unlikable person, she is an out and out abuser as recorded from multiple witness statements, proven injuries to Depp and her own damn recordings of herself bullying, belittling and laughing at her physical assaults on him, and her outright lies on multiple occasions that have been disproved. Yet that's all hunky dory because of her vagina she is obviously a poor little victim.

I really don't know anymore!

The bottom line for me which is where I keep coming back to is that AH has claimed repeated brutal physical and sexual assaults but was seen in public without injuries consistent with them. I don't know what the reason is for that other than they didn't happen. What other reason could there be? Obviously we don't know about the state of her vagina, but based on what she says happened she'd have been very injured and taking 2 sleeping tablets and going to sleep wouldn't have resolved that.

Can the jury determine that she hugely exaggerated but that some element of violence occurred and therefore the op-ed which she didn't or didn't write depending on which count she's defending was fundamentally justified and not defamatory?

That was the point of the UK trial, The Sun Reporter Dan Wooton called JD a wife beater, AH has not at any time said that. The case in the UK was against the Sun not AH.

The American case is about the Op-Ed in the Washington Post, nowhere in that article are the words 'wife beater' used. However, JD is arguing that the article even though it doesn't name him (The Sun one did) it is clear it was about him and has resulted in reputational damage to him and loss of work.

I think he has damaged his reputation far more by the revelations that have come to light in both the court cases than the Op-Ed did or ever could have done.

But isn't the sole point of the trial quite narrow - it's about whether the statement made about Depp being a wife beater is true or not?

the trial isn't about whether amber is a husband beater or not a nice person because no such statement has been made and challenged by her (as defamatory)?

So if there is evidence (which shows beyond reasonable doubt) he hit her or assaulted her in a different way then by definition he hit his wife and is a wife beater?

Yes, it’s true this is a different trial in a different country. But the U.K. is incredibly claimant friendly. It should have been a slam dunk for Johnny. In the U.K. , Johnny didn’t have to prove a thing. The burden of proof was entirely on the Sun, who has to prove it was substantially true that Depp was a “wife beater.” That’s very difficult. And yet they managed to show it was true he was abusive, on most of the occasions. Depp lost miserably.

I must admit when I saw it was Sasha Wass QC acting for The Sun I immediately thought JD was toast.

Reading these comments, not one of you must of watched the entire thing like I have! Not saying he is a Saint but AH is crazy and clearly exaggerating and making up lies. She was arrested for DV in here previous marriage. She's been heard admitting to hitting him. She said Johnny cut off the tip of his finger himself, yet in the audio She's clearly heard saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" and "he's going to leave me now" she said she had black eyes but was on live television the next day, she said make up covered up her black eyes, yet the make up artised said she put her make up on and she had no black eyes.. the lost goes on! Probably was a bit of mutual abuse but AH is highly more likely to be the perpetrator. Men get abused too!!!

I have absolutely no idea what evidence was put before the UK judge because I couldn't watch it. I assumed there must be persuasive evidence for his decision but after watching the US court case, I'm wondering how much evidence must have been excluded. You can't listen to Depps witnesses and not believe them. They are compelling. On top of that there are tapes that Heard herself made where she both admits assaulting Depp, and that seem to contradict her own claims. Add to that, her story seems to change, and she never gave the money to charity she said she had.
I'm not in any way a Depp fan. At all. But I do think that when only one side of the truth comes out, it's unfair. The UK trial left him labelled as a wifebeater and she walked away as an innocent advocate for DA victims and a generous donor to charity. And it turns out, that is not an accurate representation whatsoever. I believe she will win the case but now, at least, Depp will have the satisfaction of knowing that many more people, including his friends and peers, will see that the clear ruling against him in the UK case did not reflect the reality of his marriage.

I’m so glad to see a thread where people are sympathetic towards AH. I feel like I’m in the twilight zone when I see the vitriol aimed at her.

Remember when JD’s legal team leaked the audio of AH saying “no one will believe you.”? The one that turned the tide and had everyone believing that she was the abuser and he was the victim? Well here’s the full audio of their phone call. It paints a very different picture to the heavily edited version JD’s lawyer released. From listening to it, it seems clear to me that HE is the one gaslighting her.

I must admit I got a chuckle when he was in the middle of love bombing her, saying how much he loves her only for his phone to start ringing and it’s Amber, who had got cut off and so hadn’t heard a word of it 😂

JD and his team have very successfully slandered AH. Her reputation is in tatters and I believe that has been his intention from the beginning. He’s still finding ways to control and abuse her. He’s very unlikely to win this case but he’s already won in the court of public opinion and I believe that was the plan all along.

You've not followed the trial, yet you have an opinion of it!

The link TheAugusta has shared lays out exactly that wee, and a number of other details besides.

And a comment that Reddit created a gif of her to make her look stupid as she describes being raped with a bottle.

Also this:

"Another point of evidence of his abuse on top of the kicking and headbutt evidence
Jerry Judge (Johnny’s bodyguard) asks Josh Drew (Amber’s penthouse neighbour): “is she ok?” Josh: Are you fucking kidding me? He beat the shit out of her again, and you guys stood by and watched it” Jerry: “Its not my business. It’s between husband and wife. He barely touched her.”
See page 119. Read the rest for what happened (Johnny hitting her in the face with her iphone) with Josh’s testimony on page 147-150"

Yes, it’s true this is a different trial in a different country. But the U.K. is incredibly claimant friendly. It should have been a slam dunk for Johnny. In the U.K. , Johnny didn’t have to prove a thing. The burden of proof was entirely on the Sun, who has to prove it was substantially true that Depp was a “wife beater.” That’s very difficult. And yet they managed to show it was true he was abusive, on most of the occasions. Depp lost miserably.

The USA is famously anti claimant in defamation trials. The first amendment and the precedent that public figures have an extra hurdle to jump through in libel cases means it will be exceptionally hard for Depp to win his case (unless the jury sympathise with him.) Johnny has to prove that he wasn’t abusive to amber, and he also has to prove that she maliciously (deliberately) lied about him being an abuser in order to damage his reputation. That is a challenge. By legal standards , if he abused her too he loses. If he doesn’t manage to show she lied with malice, he loses. He has an extraordinary uphill battle compared to the U.K. case, and as far as I can see in his witness statements he hasn’t said anything new.