Culture
Amber Heard’s Lawyer Says Social Media Had An Effect On Her Case
“There’s no way they couldn’t have been influenced by it.”
Wednesday’s decision in the weeks-long court battle between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp found both parties guilty of defamation. However, the jury awarded Johnny Depp $15 million in damages, while awarding Heard with just $2 million in compensatory damages.
On Thursday, Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft spoke out in an interview on The Today Show, blaming social media — which was largely against Heard — for the verdict.
Many fans of Depp have remained fervently supportive of him, bombarding social media with posts in his favor, and bashing Heard, while public figures like Julia Fox, Kathy Griffin, and Howard Stern came out in support of Heard.
The outcome of the trial has sparked conversation online about what it means for other survivors of domestic abuse. “It’s a horrible message. It’s a significant setback,” Bredehoft said. “Unless you pull out your phone and video your spouse or significant other beating, you won’t be believed.”
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women,” Heard wrote in a statement she posted to Instagram on Wednesday. “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.”
Depp also posted a statement, thanking the jury for giving him his “life back.” “False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me. It had already traveled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career,” he wrote.