AIBU to wonder why so many people assume Johnny Depp is the good guy and Amber Heard is the villain? ..

[Cowslip4567]

People (from what I am reading in a variety of places on the internet) seem to have decided this even before the trial has been concluded. Presumably, we won't know all of the evidence until the trial ends.

The previous trial in the UK concluded that there was indeed evidence that JD was indeed a wife beater. How come everyone feels that they are sure previous trial had the wrong verdict?

Reported today, looks like it was within the last hour:
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/johnny-depp-amber-heard-recordings-shouting-b2064973.html?amp

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10751419/Johnny-Depp-heard-arguing-Amber-Heard-audio-played-court-resumes-testimony.html

Just watched the video on the DM. The thing is I do actually feel for AH because she seems genuinely distressed and humiliated at being forced to replay this. The recordings are awful. The problem is some of them eg yelling “cunt” at her without any proper context of what she said first, aren’t that damning. Some of them are horrendous.

How come he’s allowed to wear sunglasses in court?!

They are prescription glasses
haven’t heard these transcripts but I thought it was illegal to record without consent in some states? Is it not in Virginia? It is in LA

What strikes me is the number of JD supporters (not all) who are so abusive! It feels like (as with some other topics) it’s become an ‘acceptable’ outlet for some people to express their hatred and misogyny towards a woman.
Also the fact that so many are determined^^ to not only believe but keep repeating the “shit the bed” story as opposed to the more believable explanation that a dog did it.*

But what I find hardest to stomach is the lies they are telling, the fact that they are using this as an opportunity to publicly lie about how ‘if the sex’s were reversed’ and the old ‘maybe this illustrates the fact we shouldn’t always automatically believe women before they ruin a man’s career’ it’s like a punch in the guts when you think about the terrible conviction rates and terrible treatment of women who come forward.

…Just thinking of some famous sportsmen who’ve been convicted of abuse or rape I remember one who avoided prison as it would damage his carrer/reputation (I may be mixing up cases but I think he made his wife drink bleach! And a rapist who’s fans hounded his victim even after she went into hiding and her identity was repeatedly outed online.. It reminds me of that saying, I don’t remember the exact wording but along the lines of ‘when you’re from the oppressor class, equality feels like oppression’

*as a complete aside, I remember watching a fair few celebrity reality shows in my teens and there’d^ always^ be a pack of dogs that would shit on the floor, (said shit would usually be picked up with just a scrap of tissue 🤢) …the impression it left me with was that these rich Hollywood types don’t bother toilet training their dogs 😅

Same. She’s not the perfect victim by any means but she doesn’t have to be. Her issues do not excuse his, and he’s no less an abuser because she’s unlikeable.

She seems to be the one that wanted to put this in the past and move on. She didn’t want to sexual assault to be documented openly in court either, requesting it remain confidential. He’s the one that is dragging this from courtroom to courtroom, and exposing himself as he does so.

He’s willing to spend millions and damage himself solely to torment her. I wonder how much his troll farms and social media campaign alone have cost him.

He’s got another court case coming up soon too. He paid off the bodyguards that sued him, but he’s being taken to court by Greg Brooks, a location manager he’s admitted to hitting. He had the passage in the attachment redacted from his interview with GQ magazine, although it did appear in the print version.

thegeekbuzz.com/news/did-gq-magazine-redact-a-damaging-quote-from-johnny-depp/

The dogs are a likely culprit, but it’s also possible he did it himself. One of his texts is about how funny it would be to make Amber step in human shit by having someone take one in front of the bedroom door.

He’s willing to spend millions and damage himself solely to torment her. I wonder how much his troll farms and social media campaign alone have cost him.

Yes, it's not unheard of that abusers use the courts to continue their abuse long after the relationship has ended.

Everything put together, it doesn’t paint a great picture of Johnny Depp. That’s not to say a great picture is painted of Amber Heard either, but I’m dubious as to how much that is being claimed about her is actual fact and not just allegation passed off as fact (see: ‘she shit the bed!’). It’s not like he hasn’t funded a smear campaign against her.

As far as I can tell, she admitted to hitting him from the beginning. She claimed it was in self defence. I’m not sure why some are considering it to believable that Johnny Depp acted in self defence, yet shes definitely a liar?

Like quite a few people I got into a couple of physical fights when I was a teenager. My immediate reaction to being hit, is to hit back. I never considered it to be an unusual response.

ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/tag/amber%20heard?utm_medium=endless_scroll I think someone already posted this on the thread (sorry on phone so difficult to check). I don’t understand how anyone can read a factual account of what is actually being said and evidence referred to and come out thinking he is not an abuser. She seems traumatised by some of the audio and video being played.

But, even apart from the evidence that he has abused her, he also is being revealed as so utterly disgusting! Reading his texts is like reading texts written by a teenager - so much bizarre bragging about drinking, drugs, vile behaviour and attempts to glamorise his flaws. Totally self obsessed testimony and attempts to present himself as charming and funny in court. So odd that he used to have this cool, arty aura about him. It is actually terrifying, as well as baffling, that so much of social media seems to be on his side.

Is anyone actually watching it? If not may I politely suggest you do as it's been a very interesting day, particularly what's being said right now. Context is everything.

They're both incredibly broken individuals who are a toxic combination.

They've both admitted to being violent to each other. There's no good guy and villain. There's only "who was worse".

However. Being a domestic abuse survivor myself in my opinion AH has tarnished #metoo. She literally used it for monetary gain. She's lied about her situation and made women look terrible.

At this point they're just ruining their own careers. This public mud slinging is just awful.

@Cowslip4567 Both seem damaged people tbh.
Although Amber saying no one would believe him and his severed finger seemed particular evidence of abuse.
Also women from previous relationships spoke highly of him but Amber had been accused of abuse before from a previous female partner....

"However. Being a domestic abuse survivor myself in my opinion AH has tarnished #metoo. She literally used it for monetary gain. She's lied about her situation and made women look terrible. "

I don't think this is fair. One woman can't do that, the only reason that this thought is perpetuated so often is because there are so many misogynists waiting in the wings for any woman to point at as an excuse to dismiss VAWG.
We aren't one homogeneous lump and we shouldn't be amplifying these misogynistic tactics!

Lots of people spoke highly of Harvey Weinstein too.

people with power and money are often “highly thought of” by those on their payroll.

however, Depp’s history of violence has been well documented throughout the decades, he was smashing up hotel rooms back in his Kate Moss days. There is video footage of him smashing up a room. He has assaulted numerous staff and paid them off. He regularly blocks out whole drink and high, hardly defensible behaviour in a 50-something man.

And his response to being outed is very typical of a wealthy abuser, to seek to manipulate the legal system to further abuse his ex.

The British legal system entertained his carry on and found him to be a violent abuser, which of course confirmed that he lies.

And still the volume of misogyny rises. The fear of change to a system that has worked so well to protect the repugnant is huge, think how many Weinsteins and Depps are out there praying it’ll all go away.

good thing they’ve got the weight of both external and internalised misogyny behind them.

No, it wasn't proven in court that he was abusive. A judge decided on the balance of probability that the Sun's accusations were justified. It wasn't trial by jury nor a criminal case. One judge's decisions don't constitute proof.

The witnesses who said Amber was lying were often people unrelated to either Depp or Heard, such as a makeup artist and police officers. One of Depp's witnesses was dismissed because she was honest enough to say she was following the case online, as all of them will be in reality. One of Heard's was dismissed too.

as a complete aside, I remember watching a fair few celebrity reality shows in my teens and there’d always be a pack of dogs that would shit on the floor, (said shit would usually be picked up with just a scrap of tissue 🤢) …the impression it left me with was that these rich Hollywood types don’t bother toilet training their dogs

YESSSSS! I’ve seen this so many times in celebrity houses. In the playboy mansion the dogs were constantly weeing and crapping all over the floor to the point on one tv episode someone remarked you’d have to replace the carpet to get the stench of ammonia out. Also in the Osbornes the dogs used to shit everywhere in the house. Same at Jessica Simpsons house. I used to be baffled by this- with all their money and they can’t hire a dog trainer?! Everyone I know who has a dog managed to toilet train them, it’s hardly rocket science. It’s often the small yappy dogs too. Bizarre.

A judge decided on the balance of probability that the Sun's accusations were justified. It wasn't trial by jury nor a criminal case.

The Sun's accusation that he's a 'wifebeater'. I notice you left that bit out.

From the live streams I have watched of the trial it's pretty obvious he has been abusive. There is a recording where he admits to head butting her. She is also abusive too. In my mind it was a mutually abusive relationship.

I think she has been caught in lies though exaggerating her case, coming up with completely unbelievable things that happened. But as I said there is a recording of him admitting to head butting her. Job done.

I do not get why he has gone through this though. They have both put everything out there. They are two seriously mixed up individuals. Who together were a recipe for disaster.,

No, it wasn't proven in court that he was abusive. A judge decided on the balance of probability that the Sun's accusations were justified.

Sigh. The judge’s findings = respondent’s case proven. How is it that people do not understand this? The language is clear. Depp a wife beater.

It wasn't trial by jury nor a criminal case.

You say this as though it makes it somehow lesser. It doesn’t, it just illustrates your ignorance of the legal system.

One judge's decisions don't constitute proof.

A judge is a hell of a lot more experienced than a bundle of strangers and anyone who understands the legal system knows that a judge’s ruling is in the vast majority of cases more intelligent than that of a handful of nobodies.

And yes the ruling does exactly prove that the Sun article was factual, a higher burden of proof would be difficult to find and is definitely not something that you, nobody of Mumsnet, can possibly do better. It’s actually sad how ignorant so many people are.

You do realise that a judge can't just made a random decision based on whatever. They have to listen to all the evidence and weigh it all up. There must have been substantial evidence in AHs favour for him to make that ruling. He wouldn't just guess.

I wonder what kind of evidence people want before they accept that Depp is an abuser. Is it a case of ‘pics or it didn’t happen’? Is the video of him in a drunken rage smashing wine glasses round the room not enough for you? What would you say to a woman who came on AIBU to say her husband behaved like that?

but honestly, so what? He is the one making the claims, she isn’t. Why do so many people talk as though she has a case to prove? She doesn’t, he does. And he is doing it so badly that it’s cringey, he is so indulged that he believes his own crap. The sense of entitlement and grandeur knows no bounds 🤦‍♂️

You do realise that a judge can't just made a random decision based on whatever.

She doesn't realise this. She thinks she is better placed to judge 😂

Some needs to tell The Sun

If I was being physically abused by someone close to me I might well say something vaguely similar in texts to a friend. It's comical you take them so seriously. They're bad taste jokes. A way to vent anger in a ridiculously over the top way.

Wrong. It was proven in court that The Sun newspaper could legitimately describe JD as a “wife beater” because there was “substantial evidence” that it was based in truth and therefore not slanderous. The term wife beater couldn’t be less ambiguous if it tried. We all know what it means.