Depp defamation verdict excites the right: “A win for all men who have been wrongfully accused”
Over the long holiday weekend, and into the start of Pride Month, followers of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial have been keeping a watchful eye for the held-over jury to return with a verdict. Wednesday afternoon that verdict was handed down in favor of Depp.
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words,” Heard wrote in a statement after the verdict was delivered. “I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.”
RELATED: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s ongoing defamation trial: Here’s everything you need to know
Determining that Heard had acted with “malice” in a 2018 op-ed she wrote about Depp for The Washington Post in which she detailed abuse suffered during their marriage and called for him to pay her $15 million in damages, the verdict awarded her $2 million in compensatory damages for her counterclaim, according to Variety, while awarding Depp with $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
Just as the verdict itself was in favor of Depp, many reactions shot off on Twitter skewed in that direction as well.
The official Twitter account for the House Judiciary GOP reacted to the verdict with a fan GIF of Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films.
Trump-endorsed author, Nick Adams, calls the verdict, “A win for all men who have been wrongfully accused of sexual assault.”
Pop culture commentator, Andy Signore, posted a screenshot of Heard’s statement with photoshopped red editor’s “corrections,” referring to her evidence as “lies” and Depp’s power as “the truth.”
Comedian Andy Milonakis quips that Heard, “seems like the type of girl that would call Johnny Depp after the lawsuit is over and see if he wants to get back together.”
Host of “Human Rights,” Jack Posobiec, calls for the ACLU to apologize to Depp.
Even Donald Trump Jr. is celebrating Depp’s win, echoing Chris Rock’s joke, “Believe all women . . . except Amber Heard,” and adding, “$15,000,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to Depp, and perhaps a case that could end the effective rabid femminist notion that all men are guilty before being proven innocent that we’ve seen as of late.”
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Depp, basking in the support, posted a statement on Instagram after the verdict reading, “Six years later, the jury gave me my life back . . . I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up.
“I also hope that the position will now return to innocent until proven guilty, both within the courts and in the media. . . .The best is yet to come,” he adds.
While the reactions in favor of Depp make the weight of the jury’s verdict feel extra heavy, those who are coming forward in support of Heard show signs of hopefulness that women who bravely come forward to speak out against their abusers aren’t always up against a seemingly immovable wall of justice.
Read more: