This, needless to say, was shocking news. The whole world was behind Amber Heard at one point, and now, a lot of the people who were now feel foolish.
What should the next course of action be? What do we do to make sure this kind of thing never happens again?
RELATED STORIES
TW: This article contains depictions or discussions of abuse and domestic violence and may be triggering to some readers.
Years ago, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Amber Heard came out with shocking allegations.
She said to the world that she had been abused by her husband, Johnny Depp.
She even posted a picture with bruises to prove her case!
Depp has always denied the allegations despite the evidence that was stacked against him.
That being said, he is one of the men in Hollywood that was able to continue with his career despite having these allegations surrounding him.
Following these allegations and a long court case, Depp was signed on for J.K Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” films, which, at the time, caused an outrage.
Fans were divided on whether or not Depp should be in the movies.
Half of the “Harry Potter” fans pointed out that it made no sense to have a man who abused his wife be in the movie for a very important reason.
Besides the fact that it would further his career, fans pointed out that Harry Potter is based around a child who was abused in many ways by the family who took him in.
But J.K Rowling stood by Johnny Depp, letting people know that she had his back.
“Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies,” Rowling said
“I accept that there will be those who are not satisfied with our choice of actor in the title role.”
“However, conscience isn’t governable by committee. Within the fictional world and outside it, we all have to do what we believe to be the right thing.”
Her response didn’t help her fan base love her any more, but it apparently didn’t hurt her movies one bit.
They still performed very well despite having mixed reviews.
She still has another three to do!
It was hard for fans to believe Rowling could defend him, since TMZ had reported that Depp had “smashed” his phone into Heard’s face.
Heard had also claimed that Depp offered her money to not say anything.
Instead, Heard filed for divorce, and from that, a messy lawsuit was born.
She even filed for a restraining order against him, as she feared for her safety.
“During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me,” she wrote in a statement.
“I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny,”
“Which has included angry hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him.”
Depp then requested $100,000 in court sanctions from Heard.
His legal team wrote that Heard “continues to needlessly litigate a case which has been settled, all while parading in front of the media in a desperate attempt to extend her 15 minutes of fame.”
Heard’s attorney responded by saying it was “just another lame attempt by Mr. Depp and his team to not pay my client the money she is owed.”
But Johnny Depp wasn’t quite done with her just yet.
He wanted even more from her because of everything that she was putting him through.
Depp sued Heard for $50 million because of a piece she wrote in the Washington Post about domestic violence.
In May 2019, Depp stated in court documents that Heard “painted on bruises.”
He also accused her of causing him “serious bodily injury.”
But at the time, no one believed him.
Now, the couple is even involving outside sources, like James Franco and Elon Musk.
Depp wants to subpoena Franco to have him sit in for a deposition in the lawsuit Depp filed against Heard.
Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman said:
“We are interested in James Franco and Elon Musk as fact witnesses because we have evidence they are men who saw Amber Heard’s face in the days and nights between when she claimed Mr. Depp smashed her in the face on May 21 and when she went to court with painted on ‘bruises’ to obtain a Temporary Restraining Order on May 27.”
Heard’s attorney Eric M. George, had something different to say.
“Amber Heard and James Franco once lived in the same apartment complex and were simply taking an elevator at the same time. Period,” he said.
“Johnny Depp and his team have been trying—and failing—to place a salacious story based on this irrelevant footage for weeks.”
“It’s pathetic.”
Those are some heavy words considering the new files that have been released.
However, with the case of Depp and Heard constantly growing and getting more complicated, new files have been released.
And unfortunately for Heard, it shows her as the bad guy this time.
Multiple audio files were released showing that Johnny Depp was hit by Heard.
It remains to be seen if she lied about the entire event, but she definitely hit him.
In the tapes, Amber Heard admits to hitting Johnny Depp, and then lying about it to a friend when Johnny called him over.
Fans are feeling like she lied to them as well, and are demanding that Johnny Depp is given justice.
Obviously, the world is both shocked and incredibly apologetic to Johnny Depp.
However, just because new information has come to light about Depp and Heard, that doesn’t mean that she’s not a victim too.
Heard’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told USA Today that despite what Heard did, she was also a victim of Depp’s abuse.
“The fact that a woman fights or talks back does not mean that she has not been the subject of repeated domestic violence and abuse,” the statement read.
“It’s a myth to say, as Mr. Depp apparently is implying, that if Ms. Heard slapped him, then she can’t also be a victim. That is just not true.”
Basically, this whole thing is as tricky as it was from the very beginning.
Hopefully, more information comes to light soon on what really happened.
