Part 2 -AIBU to wonder why so many people assume Johnny Depp is the good guy and Amber Heard is the villain

[StormzyinaTCup]

Just thought I would start a follow on thread for anyone interested in the trial. I have kept it in AIBU so that it is easier for previous posters from Part 1 to find.
We are halfway through and have heard JD's testimony so next week we will hear from AH.

Thanks for starting this. It's an interesting discussion.

I am not sure people are assuming I think they are watching the case.

I only have a couple of questions / observations.

she was privileged in that she had money / independence and family and unlike some victims of DV she could have walked away at any point .

secondly , he might be a foul mouthed drunk , drug abuser but that does not necessarily make him a “ wife beater”

I have seen some pretty sick posts on here about what people would like to do about our current PM and calling him all sorts of foul names . Does that make those posters guilty of assault by association? Or does it mean if they were standing next to the PM they would carry out their threats ?

He has lead a rock and roll life , as have many others , but so far he has not been charged with assault as far as I know.

also she has been proven to lie , so where do you draw the line about which bits are true and which are not ?

No problem.

It's an emotive subject and perspectives and opinions have been interesting. I am watching a lot of the coverage (when work allows, but WFH helps!) however, it does feel a bit voyeuristic so I was unsure whether to run a continuation thread. It is an interesting case though and provides an opportunity for other 'mini topics' for discussion.

the last thread ended with accusations about siding with Johnny and peoples motives. Of course there are some who will always side with one side, but for the last few years and last week especially amber has become unreliable. I am wondering how she is going to answer certain questions from the previous court case under oath. She has changed quite a few peoples opinions and it was a bad week for her, next week she might win some back.

she was privileged in that she had money / independence and family and unlike some victims of DV she could have walked away at any point .

Agreed, but perhaps she loved him and didn't find that easy to do, emotionally. She described him as being like Jekyll and Hyde due to all the substances he was taking at times.

secondly , he might be a foul mouthed drunk , drug abuser but that does not necessarily make him a “ wife beater”

True, but I do think it makes it significantly more probable.

Surely in the decades hes been abusing substances him afflicting IPV on a partner would have been evident at some point

Thanks for continuing this AIBU question from the original OP's perspective - not one I think you share. That's reasonable of you 🙂 🙏

Surely in the decades hes been abusing substances him afflicting IPV on a partner would have been evident at some point

He trashed a hotel room during an argument with Kate Moss. His ex Ellen Barkin accused him of throwing a bottle at her.

He does have a bit of a rap sheet.

• arrested for assaulting a security guard in Canada in 1989
• 1994 arrest for 'criminal mischief' after trashing hotel room (the incident with Kate Moss)
• 1999 arrested for assaulting paparazzi
• Sued by bodyguards a few years ago for being violent towards them and forcing them to transport drugs for him (settled out of court)
• currently being sued for attacking a member of the crew on one of his films.

Over all I think the information we are getting in this case is far more balanced.
Next week when we hear amber's voice it Will be extremely interesting to see which way this rocks then.

I don't think it's a simple situation.
Nor a clear one.
What I strongly dislike though is the diagnosis supposedly 0f the medical person.

I've followed both trials closely. I've not seen any evidence yet that JD has been physically abusive.

That said, I do think he was emotionally withdrawn. There's evidence that when AH was upset with him and wanted to talk, he didn't engage and walked away. Even when she was upset about him being late for her birthday party, he said he just read his magazine instead of talking to her.

It may be a coping mechanism though as she has histrionic personality disorder so he was probably totally done with it all by then. But in her mind, he was being emotionally abusive by walking away and not listening to her.

So no IPV against a partner then?

Thank you @StormzyinaTCup I think we probably have differing views but I agree with a pp you’ve been very polite with it.

So no IPV against a partner then?

Well I think it's splitting hairs to say 'no IPV' about someone trashing a hotel room with their then partner present during an argument. That must have been horrific. And as I said, he was accused by another ex, Ellen Barkin.

@ENoeuf
@ThrowawayBerna 👍🏻😊

The burden of proof is so much less in a civil case so I do think he may lose unless there is proof that she has lied . But whatever else he has done it is still not what has affected his career , specifically that he is a wife beater.
it used to be a badge of honour to be a rock and roll hell raiser and I think in the industry that was known anyway .

the court case is only about this issue and he has not had a criminal case proven in that area.

Think he's coming across as a narcissistic twat. Making fun of the lawyers.
Why didn't she leave? Why didn't he. Never thar straight forward.
Hope he loses.

Being a twat does not make you a wife beater .

And was she not demanding to live rent free in his property?

Her lawyers are an absolute joke. If I were him I'd be laughing as well. All that money and you get that clown

following with interest. I was pretty open minded and am interested to hear how she explains herself. That recorded convo where she mocks him being a victim of domestic violence is chilling.
He's no angel, he absolutely has demons and drug/drink issues but I don't believe he hit her-theres been no evidence of it, even the police didnt believe she'd been a victim of abuse. Theirs was a toxic relationship, the only person he hurt was himself. And the kitchen cabinets.
He's come across very well, not helped by Amber's lawyers-they're a joke.
She did damage his career by writing that article and while she never named him, neither did she deny it.
Either way she's pretty unstable/narcissistic. She has a baby now though, hopefully her wee girl keeps her steady.

Her accusation about being beaten seems to come down to one event - a day when she says he threw a phone at her face causing swelling / bruising. So far I've seen many people who were there that day, ie police, security, neighbour, doorman, driver, all saw her close up and saw no evidence of any damage . The police were there to assess for any DV and they saw nothing , despite her face being flushed from crying - they are actually trained to see any injuries and they reported "no injury" and " caller didn't want to talk to us" . I'd have thought that if you'd been injured by your husband and you called the police , you'd at least talk to them.

There are also several audio recordings where she is saying that she has hit him, and accusing him of running away, hiding from her etc. She threw a bottle at him and it took the end of his finger off.

I haven't heard any evidence where he is the perpetrator of any violence against her .

She told a TV interviewer that she had donated all her divorce settlement to charity - but she was lying, she paid one installment and has never paid them another cent. This pattern of lying makes her look like someone who cannot be trusted to tell the truth.

I don't know if its been mentioned but there is also that make up brand willing to go on record to call out her lie saying she used their pallet to hide bruises
When the pallet hadn't been released

Good points about make up pallette and the lies she's been caught out in.
I can't help thinking she's going to try and cry her way through this-theres literally no proof, I don't see what evidence she can provide to convince the jury.
His lawyers are going to rip her apart, especially about the makeup which her lawyer used in her opening statement. Thats another lie she's been caught out.

JD has had the opportunity to have his say, something I felt strongly about right from the start and I had no 'team' but there are always two sides to every story. This is clearly is not your typical 'norm' domestic abuse situation. His lawyers have made a good representation and have shown, with evidence, that the credibility of AH is in question.

I will say that I am struggling with a couple of particular issues, one being that she conspired with ACLU who themselves were very underhanded (something that we would not have been aware of had JD not sued them to get them to hand over that information). She was found to have lied about the donations and that she has painted herself as an advocate of domestic violence when she has herself has been shown to have been abusive. That leaves a bad taste.

Things do appear to be stacked against her at the moment, certainly in the court of public opinion, and I do think her legal team have let her down. For her sake I hope they up their game. As I did with JD I will certainly hear her out but she needs to back up what she is saying with evidence.

They both have issues that need to be addressed - it's all so messy.

I was very interested in the guy from ACLU - she was obviously their poster girl for domestic violence because of the op-ed ( which was actually written for her by someone else ) . He said that Johnny Depp was named in the original piece . He also said that ACLU wanted someone of a high profile, and it suited her to become involved because she had a film coming out so her profile would get a boost - everybody was a winner apparently ( except for Johnny Depp of course).

The ACLU part could be difficult for Amber, she had previously denied that the piece is about Johnny. It’s now clear it was and she will be asked under oath which leads to her breaking the non disclosure if she admits it. Maybe even another legal case. I do think that for Johnny the court of public opinion is his ultimate audience and it took a court case against Amber for that to happen (and lots of leaking of documents).