{"id":1500783,"date":"2022-06-02T08:15:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T12:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1500783"},"modified":"2022-06-02T08:16:24","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T12:16:24","slug":"johnny-depp-might-have-won-his-defamation-case-but-hes-still-no-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/johnny-depp-might-have-won-his-defamation-case-but-hes-still-no-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Depp Might Have Won His Defamation Case, But He\u2019s Still No Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjohnny-depp-might-have-won-his-defamation-case-but-hes-still-no-hero%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1500783&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The crowd outside the courtroom erupted today when a Fairfax jury ruled in favor of Johnny Depp in the actor\u2019s defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard. After six weeks of proceedings, the jury ruled unanimously that Heard\u2019s claims of domestic violence in her 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/ive-seen-how-institutions-protect-men-accused-of-abuse-heres-what-we-can-do\/2018\/12\/18\/71fd876a-02ed-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">op-ed<\/a> were defamatory towards Depp. The jury determined the actress owes Depp $15 million, and Depp owes Heard $2 million for defaming Heard through his lawyer on one point in Heard\u2019s countersuit.<\/p>\n<p>After deliberating for almost 13 hours, the jury reached their decision after lunch Wednesday, with the judge reading the verdict at 3:20pm. Depp was not present for the verdict but watched the livestream from the United Kingdom, CourtTV legal correspondent Chanley Sh\u00e1 Painter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChanleyCourtTV\/status\/1532055774180016129\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Upon the favorable verdict, he posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CeRl1FwMmR6\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a> expressing his gratitude to his legal team, the court, and his supporters. \u201cI also hope that the position will now return to the \u2018innocent until proven guilty\u2019 both within the courts and the media,\u201d Depp said. \u201cVeritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Along with Depp were more than 3 million viewers tuning in to watch the verdict. After each criterion for defamation was found to be applicable in Depp\u2019s case, the live feed of the trial exploded. Comments flowed in like, \u201cThis is the day you almost caught Jack Sparrow,\u201d and \u201cJohnny is getting his life back.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"612\" height=\"774\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Screenshot-93.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-273357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Screenshot-93.png 612w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Screenshot-93-237x300-1.png 237w\" \/><\/p>\n<p><figcaption class=\"col-12 col-md-6 body-xs px-15 pe-md-0 ps-md-30 py-15 m-0 text-center\">Comments bar on Law &#038; Crime Channel<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>With such public hysteria upon the favorable verdict for Depp, the Depp v. Heard trial says far more about American viewers than it does the \u201cPirates of the Caribbean\u201d star.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since Depp took the stand in mid-April, the $50 million suit has accrued more national attention than even the Supreme Court\u2019s anticipated opinion on Roe v. Wade. As of May 16,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2022\/05\/17\/amber-heard-johnny-depp-trial-social-media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> a study<\/a> of average social media interactions with published articles on the Depp trial and on abortion revealed that Depp received 508 engagements to abortion\u2019s 141. Abortion could be rolled back to a state decision, but the nation wants to know if mud will stick in Hollywood.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a sensational case, with Heard claiming Depp sexually abused her with a liquor bottle and Depp claiming she made up the accusations and was the real abuser. Depp\u2019s testimony in mid-April took the internet by storm as fans circulated viral <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@.johnnydepp1\/video\/7093978420257754369\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TikToks<\/a> mocking Heard, vilifying her lawyers, and enshrining Depp as the true victim. Depp\u2019s debonair presentation pitted the nation against his ex-wife \u2014 a sentiment fueled by the blunders of Heard\u2019s legal team and later Heard\u2019s own testimony.<\/p>\n<p>The public adoration spread to Depp\u2019s legal team with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@mculokii\/video\/7098843774075391234?is_copy_url=1&#038;is_from_webapp=v1&#038;refer=embed&#038;referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2F&#038;referer_video_id=7098843774075391234\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">videos<\/a> fawning over his lead attorneys Ben Chew and Camille Vasquez. Chew\u2019s reactions to Heard in the courtroom gathered a following, and Vasquez\u2019s brutal cross-examination of Heard and numerous sustained objections to Heard\u2019s redirect made her an overnight favorite. <\/p>\n<p>While Depp\u2019s position might have genuinely have gone to some people\u2019s hearts, the case clearly went to some of their heads, with fans lining up outside the courthouse at 2:30 am to get one of the 100 seats inside, bringing Depp <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CdwaH2Lgj5H\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">emotional support alpacas<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/26\/arts\/amber-heard-tiktok-johnny-depp.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paying $400<\/a> to get their comments bumped up on the live feed, and generating a #justiceforjohnnydepp hashtag that gathered more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-61649522\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18 billion views<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The public rejected Heard with the same tenacity with which they embraced Depp. They adored the one, so they hated the other. Viral videos mocking Heard\u2019s reactions, virulent comments on live streams, death threats the actress says she\u2019s received (one saying, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OphH5kwh7kM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cpeople want to put my baby in the microwave\u201d<\/a>),\u00a0conspiracy theories of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nmoe9iuB-n8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heard snorting cocaine on the stand<\/a>, comments crucifying Heard\u2019s witnesses for their appearance, and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/dc-entertainment-remove-amber-heard-from-aquaman-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">petition with more than 4 million<\/a> names to remove her from \u201cAquaman 2\u201d presented an ugly backdrop for the trial.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The public consensus? Heard is the villain, and Depp can do no wrong \u2013 a whiplash reaction to a case that follows just five years after the accusations of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/24\/nyregion\/harvey-weinstein-case-sexual-assault.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Harvey Weinstein<\/a> began to roll in in 2017. Since accusations against Weinstein christened the Me Too movement, droves of women have accused numerous<a href=\"https:\/\/www.glamour.com\/gallery\/post-weinstein-these-are-the-powerful-men-facing-sexual-harassment-allegations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Hollywood stars<\/a>, directors, and executives of sexual harassment.<\/p>\n<p>The Me Too movement granted an exception to the American principle of innocent until proven guilty. As a result of Weinstein\u2019s abuse, every man accused in Hollywood is deemed automatically guilty in the public eye.<\/p>\n<p>Just not Johnny Depp. Who knew all it would take to flip the Me Too movement on its head was to put Jack Sparrow on trial? The childhood hero is now the symbol of a renewed vision of justice\u2014one that grants men the right to be abused too. Depp was the stone on which the Me Too movement broke because he, as the victim, is the hero.<\/p>\n<p>We have a flawed view of heroes \u2014 one in which victims are heroes by sheer nature of being a victim. We\u2019ve reduced humanity to that of predator and prey, perpetrator and victim, enemy and hero. In the artificially reduced world of oppressor versus oppressed, morality hinges on status. If you\u2019re the oppressor, you\u2019re wrong. And with no other variables other than perpetrator and victim, if you\u2019re the oppressed party, then naturally you\u2019re right.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So we find ourselves in the middle of a culture that, while preaching a gray gospel, swears a black and white nexus between victim and hero. We have divorced morality from the old sense of heroism and married it to the state of being a victim. True heroism\u2014doing the right thing no matter the cost\u2014is no longer an internal choice but an external byproduct of an evil perpetrated against you. Our modern conception of heroism only means absorbing a wrong done to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This critical race theory tenet that the world revolves around the axis of retribution and<a href=\"https:\/\/citizensrenewingamerica.com\/issue_topic\/critical-race-theory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> oppressor versus oppressed<\/a> is so embedded in our thinking as to give us the Me Too movement and the public rage against Heard. If Depp is the hero because he is the true victim, then the one oppressing him is the true anti-hero. Heard is now public enemy number one. (Behind Donald Trump, of course.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Me Too movement seeks to give women a voice by glorifying the victim\u2014but when we make our victims heroes, we have counterfeited heroism. All of a sudden, the victimized is by nature the virtuous. So we get America\u2019s latest fake hero, Johnny Depp.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Well, many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rPBOq3uUzvM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recordings<\/a>, text messages, and videos that demonstrate Depp isn\u2019t all that virtuous. In Chew\u2019s words in his Friday closing, \u201cMr. Depp is no saint, and he has never claimed to be one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact, his virtuosity is the opposite of what his case proves. He calls his wife vile names, using explicative upon explicative, beating up cabinets when he\u2019s drunk. He takes opioids with abandon and drinks himself asleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And yet the public idolizes him. Their worship of Depp for externals\u2014his story of abuse, his humorous quips, and Heard\u2019s lackluster defense\u2014underscores the frivolity and subjectivity with which we assign our heroes.<\/p>\n<p>Either the public needs no saint on their throne, or they believe Depp is one. I don\u2019t know which is scarier.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Beth Whitehead is an intern at The Federalist and a journalism major at Patrick Henry College where she fondly excuses the excess amount of coffee she drinks as an occupational hazard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The crowd outside the courtroom erupted today when a Fairfax jury ruled in favor of Johnny Depp in the actor\u2019s defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard. After six weeks of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1500783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1500783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1500783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1500783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1500783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}