{"id":1502257,"date":"2022-06-03T10:10:29","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T14:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1502257"},"modified":"2022-06-03T10:10:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T14:10:40","slug":"sharyl-attkisson-depp-verdict-marks-turning-point-in-weaponization-of-me-too-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sharyl-attkisson-depp-verdict-marks-turning-point-in-weaponization-of-me-too-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharyl Attkisson: Depp Verdict Marks Turning Point in Weaponization of \u201cMe Too\u201d Movement"},"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%2Fsharyl-attkisson-depp-verdict-marks-turning-point-in-weaponization-of-me-too-movement%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=1502257&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><em>News analysis<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ask any lawyer who specializes in defamation law: It\u2019s nearly impossible for a public figure to win a case. Here\u2019s what the lawyer will tell you: You have a much higher bar than someone who isn\u2019t considered a public figure.<\/p>\n<p>Because you\u2019re a public figure, you not only have to prove the statement was a lie, you have to also prove that the one who made the statement did so with malice or reckless disregard for the truth. Meeting that second bar is tricky. The U.S. Constitution rightly affords a great deal of latitude for Americans to freely speak their mind.<\/p>\n<p>The lawyer will also tell you that the search for justice in court will likely take years and cost millions. And even if you win, the jury might not award you enough damages to make a dent in the attorney\u2019s fees.<\/p>\n<p>And, finally, the lawyer will tell you that no matter how good of a case you present, you still might end up losing, owing millions of dollars in legal fees, and possibly even be liable for the other side\u2019s attorneys\u2019 fees\u2014which will also be in the millions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re better off walking away.<\/p>\n<p>Not many people have the time and money to do what they think is right.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that mega-celebrity Johnny Depp won his case against his ex-wife actress, Amber Heard, is remarkable in many senses. First, Depp managed to meet the extremely high bar for proof. Second, Depp was fighting one of the most powerful narratives of our time and a media establishent that largely sided against him\u2014early and often. Third, Depp unwittingly turned the table on the #MeToo narrative: he\u2019s a man\u2014and not just any man, but a powerful, famous man\u2014who claimed abuse by a woman.<\/p>\n<p>Depp was not only victorious; he also won on all three specific statements that he challenged. This is only possible if the jury were convinced that the woman in the dispute was not \u201cto be believed.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Me Too\u2019 Backlash<\/h2>\n<p>The Depp verdict marks a seminal moment in the weaponization of the \u201cMe Too\u201d movement. Some tweeted out news of Depp\u2019s win using the modified hashtag: #MenToo.<\/p>\n<p>Most people already knew that the suggestion that all \u201cwomen are to be believed\u201d at their first utterance of a \u201cMe Too\u201d accusation is as ludicrous as claiming that women never lie and men never tell the truth. Yet today\u2019s propagandized Internet and media environment made it where even commonsense responses to ludicrous claims have made people targets for bullying, attacks, cancellation, and harassment.<\/p>\n<p>An eventual backlash was inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>First came the obvious inconsistencies. It turned out some women were not believed by the very advocates who claimed \u201cwomen were to be believed.\u201d In practice, it depends on which side the woman is on. Likewise, facts ultimately proved that some women who were believed turned out to be blatantly lying.<\/p>\n<p>Second, the \u201cMe Too\u201d cause\u2014in and of itself a worthy one\u2014became<a href=\"https:\/\/fullmeasure.news\/news\/cover-story\/shades-of-grey-07-24-2018\"> weaponized<\/a>. It has been exploited by dishonest players who know that the mere taint of an accusation is enough to destroy a political or personal enemy.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, even now, the many in the media miss the point punctuated by the Depp verdict. They remain blinded by their zeal to twist the case to fit their narrative rather than admit women are not always to be believed, some of them don\u2019t tell the truth, and they\u2014the media\u2014got behind the wrong horse.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a<a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/human-interest\/2022\/06\/johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial-verdict-truth.html\"> headline<\/a> in the propaganda blog Slate actually dubs the Depp trial as being \u201crigged.\u201d The article, like many in the media, wrongly assumed that all of the support for Depp\u2019s side of the story had nothing to do with evidence. (It was written by a woman named Nicole Lewis who apparently feels a great deal of self-shame for having idolized Depp in her youth.) \u201cWe have been told again and again to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2020\/jan\/21\/what-happens-when-we-dont-believe-women\"> disbelieve women<\/a> and revere men,\u201d whined Lewis.<\/p>\n<p>Quite the opposite. (Where have these people been the past decade?)<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, post-verdict, the Slate article still contains a defamatory statement. It accepts as if true, an assertion the jury rejected as false and defamatory: \u201cWhile a jury deliberates on whether Heard slandered the actor when <em>she wrote about her experience of domestic violence<\/em> in an op-ed for the Washington Post \u2026 [emphasis added].\u201d The jury found Heard did not experience domestic violence at the hands of Depp.<\/p>\n<p>Even more egregious, the Washington Post published a note on the defamatory op-ed noting the jury verdict, but (at last check) left the defamatory headline unchanged: front and center.<\/p>\n<p>Popular media analyses simply refuse to accept the possibility that Depp was the one telling the truth, after all\u2014at least the way the jury saw it; that he had more evidence, better evidence, and a better case; that things were not as Heard and the media had portrayed them.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that Depp didn\u2019t sue for the purpose of becoming the world\u2019s most famous male victim of domestic abuse. He was defending himself against Heard\u2019s defamatory claims of abuse, in an attempt to recover some of his reputation and marketability in a Hollywood stung by sex scandals and \u201cMe Too\u201d accusations.<\/p>\n<p>If Amber Heard had not written the original op-ed in the Washington Post\u2014one that we learned at trial was drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), its release apparently timed to promote Heard\u2019s upcoming movie\u2014we likely wouldn\u2019t know about the allegations made in court that Heard threw objects at Depp hitting him and cutting his face; gave Depp a \u201cshiner\u201d on their honeymoon; put out a cigarette on his face; threw a bottle and cut off the end of his finger, and\u2014by her own admission\u2014kicked a door at his head when he knelt to check her foot, and repeatedly hit him.<\/p>\n<h2>Pendulum Swing?<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s worth taking one step further back in this analysis. The Depp case is not only a turning point in a narrative that was weaponized and taken too far; it\u2019s also a backlash against a steady diet of narratives, one-sided news reporting, and propaganda being forced down our throats on a minute-by-minute basis.<\/p>\n<p>A majority of the American public should not dictate over the minority. But neither should a fringe minority dictate over the majority. We have been under the tyranny of a vocal minority that\u2019s too often guilty of the very behavior they claim to abhor: bullying and disinformation.<\/p>\n<p>The Depp jury weighed the evidence and rejected what they\u2014what we were all\u2014told we had to believe. The Depp victory is not only a landmark case in the legal realm of defamation. More importantly, it can also be seen as a turning point in well-funded and controlled efforts to manipulate public opinion and silence those who are off the narrative.<\/p>\n<p>In that sense, we should all pay attention to the Depp verdict.<\/p>\n<p><i>Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-sharyl-attkisson\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"names\">\n<p>contributor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sharyl Attkisson is the New York Times bestselling author of \u201cStonewalled,\u201d \u201cThe Smear,\u201d and \u201cSlanted,\u201d a five-time Emmy Award winner, and the host of Sinclair\u2019s national investigative television program \u201cFull Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.\u201d She is a recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting and has reported nationally for CBS News, PBS, and CNN.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News analysisAsk any lawyer who specializes in defamation law: It\u2019s nearly impossible for a public figure to win a case. Here\u2019s what the lawyer will tell you: You have a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"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-1502257","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\/1502257","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\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1502257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502257\/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=1502257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1502257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1502257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}