Who Will Win: Depp or Heard?

Even people who are not into celebrity stories cannot have failed to notice the bizarre and compelling court case pitting divorced couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard against one another. But who is going to end up on top?

The Very Public Disintegration of a Marriage

A Hollywood couple's marriage descending into bitter acrimony and separation is, alas, not the most staggering turn of events the world has ever seen. But even by the august standards of Tinseltown, the fractious breakdown of the relationship between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp has been something to behold. And opinions are strongly held on either side, with some recorded audio shifting a significant slice of people away from Heard and onto Depp's side. But how did it come to this?

It was back in February 2015 that Heard and Depp got married. Just over a year passed before Heard filed for divorce (May 2016) and even got a temporary restraining order against her then husband. The reason cited was verbal and physical abuse (frequently due to alcohol/drugs). Come January 2017, less than two years after the marriage, the divorce was settled.

Depp brought a case of defamation against the British newspaper The Sun after it described him as a wife beater. This was to have substantial repercussions as the courts found in favor of the newspaper, Depp resigned from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, and in 2021 Depp's appeal was lost. But the appeal to overturn that judgment was not the only legal move Depp made.

Depp Sues Heard (2019)

Depp also sued Heard for defamation after she wrote an op-ed about abuse in The Washington Post in late 2018. In this action, he alleged that he was the victim rather than the perpetrator of abuse (adding that Disney had not cast him again due to the legal situation). Heard countersued the following year, accusing Depp of a harassment campaign to try and lose her work (including on the Aquaman films). Come April 11, 2022, the trial started.

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Domestic Abuse and Assumptions

There are several demographic factors that tend to lead to people being believed more in courts. These are being white, female, wealthy, and attractive (which is pretty horrendous if you get accused and are black, male, poor, and ugly). Heard ticks every one of these boxes, and there is a natural tendency to feel more sympathetic towards women in the legal system. Nobody has difficulty believing men are perpetrators of crimes, but this stereotype (not entirely unjustified as there are about 13 times as many male as female prisoners in the USA) can lead to assumptions being made.

Up until this point the courts have found against Depp, and many were expecting this trial to go the same way. But amid the shocking revelations some evidence has come to light that has made quite a lot of people change their minds, and may yet sway the judgment in this instance.

That Audio Recording

Bizarrely, the evidence that has made such a splash has actually been known about for a few years but has only made an impact in recent weeks. In the audio recording, Heard denied punching Depp but did admit to hitting him (a semantic argument that has left quite a few people shaking their heads). Heard went on, in the audio recording, to describe Depp as 'fine' and said she did not hurt him, despite admitting to hitting him. In the recording, she then went on to belittle him as a baby and told him to 'grow the **** up'.

Had the shoe been on the other foot, and the recording switched the people around, it's hard to believe that this would not have decided the case in pretty short order. Whether or not it will do so remains open to doubt. While most domestic abuse victims are women, a very large minority are men, and this bitter case is at least highlighting that fact.

Back in 2020, Depp also accused Heard of severing his finger tip (during the court action involving The Sun), claiming she threw a vodka bottle at him which cut the top of his finger. In response, Heard alleged that Depp had, during a three-day period, destroyed the house in which they were staying in a drug-fuelled rage. She also alleged that he physically abused her (including throwing her against a table and pushing her against a fridge) claims he has denied.

At the same time, Depp did admit to (as he said) accidentally headbutting Heard but insisted it happened when she was punching him, an accidental collision when he had sought to prevent her from attacking him.

The Befouling of the Bed

If you're eating something you might want to just finish before you read the rest of this section because it's relevant to the case but also on the disgusting side.

Once again, this stark subject is one that does not reflect well on Amber Heard. She's alleged to have defecated in the marital bed. The claim comes from Depp's chauffeur/security guard, to whom Heard is said to have admitted the foul behavior (claiming it was a practical joke can wrong). In testimony, Depp said he was sent photos of the situation and could only laugh at the weirdness of it all.

Who Will Win?

A lot of this is 'he said/she said' style evidence, although the audio recording is substantial as it shows Heard admits to at least hitting Depp and belittling him. Despite Heard's side asserting Depp is attacking the victim public sympathy does seem to be mostly on Depp's side, but when it comes to court cases of this nature judgments do tend to side with women.

It's impossible to be certain, but right now a lot of people think the evidence supports Depp's story of events more than Heard's, and that he deserves to win.