The Me Too movement has taken down many horrible people. The likes of Harvey Weinstein have totally deserved it. But in the case of Johnny Depp, things have not been as simple. In his case, he was accused indirectly by one person where Weinstein was accused by multiple people with plenty of evidence to criminally convict him on several counts.
The one problem I’ve had with Me Too has been that it is trying people in the court of public opinion. Public opinion is notorious for being unreliable. There are plenty of times when that court has convicted someone innocent.
There are claims that Amber Heard’s loss to Johnny Depp is a huge blow to the Me Too movement. I don’t agree. Johnny Depp’s defense was not that Amber Heard was just wrong, but that she created her story of abuse because that was what she had been doing to him. The case was all about the inconsistencies in her story. They had what few people do, audio recordings of various arguments and incidents. They had documented medical care given. They had many eye witnesses to events, a number of them unaffiliated with either of them.
Having spent a good deal of time watching the testimony in the trial, what I can report is that the evidence presented did not support Heard’s story. There were a number of inconsistencies that did not seem authentic. There was a lack of physical evidence supporting her story. There was a lack of any evidence supporting her story. There was what she told her therapist, but much of that was not reported at the time of the supposed events. On the other side, Depp’s lawyers were able to bring a lot of evidence to support that he was the victim of abuse. They were able to provide evidence of multiple instances of physical injury. They were able to play audio recordings of multiple times when she basted him verbally.
One of the biggest things that went against Heard in the US trial that did not come out in the UK trial was that she did not donate the $7 million from the divorce settlement as she claimed and pledged. The first installment was paid by Depp’s accountant directly and the only following installments were donated by Elon Musk, Heard’s boyfriend at the time. No further payments were made. Lying about this donation destroyed her credibility. Her credibility on this was a key to Depp’s loss in the UK trial.
So when you put the lies about donating millions to charity, the evidence of abuse to Depp, and the lack of evidence of any medical treatment she received, plus all the verbal abuse in the audio recordings, previous charges of abuse against her, the multiple former partners of Depp who testified that he had never abused them, and all the witnesses who saw Heard blowing up at Depp, all worked to prove that it was Heard who was the abuser. Her accusations against Depp appear at this point to be a case of an abuser gas lighting their victim - a common defense.
In addition, she tried to paint a picture that she was not a substance abuser and he was. But the evidence shows that she was at least an equal abuser.
Other aspects of the case that worked in Depp’s favor were the abuse he and his father and siblings suffered at the hands of his mother, his defense mechanism (leaving the situation), that defense mechanism showing up in the audio recordings of the fights with Heard and her ridiculing him for it, his silence in public, his well laid out defense in court and the clear picture laid out of her verbal and physical abuse of him.
And it was telling that her attorney’s closing argument contained the statement that the jury must find for her or it will damage the case of future women who suffer from abuse. That is not a personal defense but a plea to ignore the evidence and consider the larger picture. That the jury did not heed that request shows that they were looking at the facts of the case. And now that she has lost, they are repeating that false equivalency on the talk show circuit.
This case is all about uncovering the true victim of abuse and tearing through the lies of the abuser. Gas lighting is a common defense of abusers and in this case it took on the abuser playing the victim in public. But how can we tell? Because Heard’s accusations lacked substance. The medical records in question were not hospital records of treatment but self reported incidents to a therapist at a later date. Witnesses reported no bruises were seen. Police called to the scene saw no evidence of abuse and left. Abusers tend to be habitual. Heard was accused of abusing a previous partner where all of Depp’s former partners have stated that he didn’t harm them at all. Also, Depp was seen to fall into depression and worse substance abuse during his relationship with Heard (to the point it affected his work) and sought treatment after and has cleaned up his act.
The overall picture is in Depp’s favor. It is in the victim’s favor. So in terms of victims of abuse, this case is solidly on the side of evidence of abuse.
As for the Me Too movement, I think that it will go forward little changed. I think Depp’s team made it clear that he supports victim’s rights and that victims need to be listened to, even if they are men. I think the one thing this may do is correct for the flaw that a single person could take down another. There are many cases out there where a bad relationship might come to light. But I think the Me Too movement needs to focus on taking down the serial abusers (the infamous casting couch) that have preyed on the innocent. Even the name implies that the movement is based on the idea that when multiple people come forward, they must be listened to. Several cases have risen out of this that did not involve multiple accusers that were not as clear. But when multiple accusers are involved, many with similar, if not identical, stories, the criminality of their actions becomes clear. Even if such charges cannot be proven in court, the number of victims should ensure they get their say in pubic and that the careers of serial abusers should come to an end. With any luck a criminal conviction should follow, as many have.
So this case has not set back the cause of victims of domestic violence, but forwarded it by showing what lengths a guilty person might go to in order to appear innocent. Does it really impact the Me Too movement? Only time will tell, but I would hope that with a single accuser that their story would be scrutinized appropriately and if found credible would get fair treatment to see the abuser pay.
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