civil cases should not be in the news: johnny Depp v. amber heard

by Lindsey Ehrlich, Editor

Opinion & Current Events

Since 1609, millions of people have sat down with their morning cup of joe and opened the paper to read about all the latest events capturing the attention of the press. Reporters have written countless stories about heroes, criminals, and everything in between. With the global shift toward digitization, people have started using websites like CNN or BBC as primary news sources. Online reporting has enabled writers, experienced and inexperienced alike, to anonymously publish their personal opinions. With the digital shift, news reaches more corners of the world than ever before. The press has naturally become more opinionated, leading to a greater potential for both intentional and unintentional falsities. The media now has the ability to ruin anyone’s life, especially celebrities’—the most recent instance being the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial. As such, there should be legal restrictions on the media’s ability to cover civil cases until after a verdict is reached for the sake of protecting the people involved and their reputations.

Johnny Depp has been a household name since before Amber Heard was born. He has acted in films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and the television series 21 Jump Street, but the movie series he is most known for is undoubtedly Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean—where he played the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp has had a very successful career and has done more than make a name for himself.

Depp started dating the lesser-known Amber Heard after co-starring with her in The Rum Diary. Their abusive relationship was brought to court several times, the most recent case being the defamation trial that began in April of this year. Since the case opened, it has dominated the media, with a growing number of articles published about it every single day. It seems as though no one has been left in the dark about this case—memes and edited videos from the trial are popular entertainment on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. On June 1, the trial ended in favor of Johnny Depp, awarding him $15 million while Heard received $2 million in compensatory damages.

Amber Heard arguably dug a hole for herself. Most people will agree that she was untruthful about a lot of the experiences she recounted on the stand. There were many instances in which it was clear Heard was playing the victim to try and sway the jury. In fact, after the court reached a verdict, she stated that this decision was a huge “setback” for women. This, in my opinion, is an offensive comment and blows the result of this case out of proportion by connecting it to feminism.

Unfortunately for Heard, Depp is a more well-known actor, meaning the majority of people side with her ex-husband. They spread memes calling her a liar and a golddigger, and embarrass her online with hashtags like #JusticeForJohnnyDepp, #AmberTurd, and #AmberHeardIsALiar. The truth is, people who have not watched the case in its entirety are uneducated about what is really happening. They are quick to label or humiliate Heard, only covering the facts that portray her in a bad light.

Yes, Amber Heard did defecate on Depp’s bed. Yes, she refuses to take accountability for the pain and defamation she caused Depp. However, in a relationship where she did face some degree of abuse, her side of the story is hardly acknowledged. The overwhelming amount of eyes on the case put a tremendous amount of societal pressure on the outcome—one that most had already decided in favor of Depp.

The media’s mass coverage of the case allows the public to spread biased information that is solely based on handpicked facts, which can cause some people to formulate false, uneducated opinions about the lawsuit. What most people refuse to see is the abusive language Depp uses to describe Heard. He has called her a “gold digging, low level, dime a dozen, mushy, pointless dangling overused flappy fish market” to state the least. People refuse to acknowledge the malice behind some of Depp’s texts, like, “She’s begging for total global humiliation… She’s gonna get it.”

In 2018, Daniel Hubbard, a Texas cop, arrested a woman in a routine DUI stop. The woman then accused Hubbard of offering to let her go in return for sexual favors. The media exploded, outraged by another cop abusing his power over citizens. The allegations were false, but Hubbard had already faced public heat for a crime he had never committed. If the media had released the story after Hubbard was proven innocent, his reputation would have taken minimal damage. False allegations have the power to ruin lives, and premature media coverage of these events only furthers the damage.

People’s lives are ruined every day from false information shared online. This can be especially harmful in civil cases where the people involved can face a damaged reputation. Civil cases should not be released to the media until after a verdict is reached. Without a regulation like this in place, the internet will be littered with misinformation that could unfairly destroy careers. As much as people love celebrity gossip, an entertaining story is not worth a person’s future.

Sources

Lenthang, Marlene. “Johnny Depp’s Attorney Says Amber Heard “Didn’t Take Accountability for Anything.”” NBC News, 8 June 2022, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/johnny-depps-attorney-says-amber-heard-didnt-take-accountability-anyth-rcna32359. Accessed 9 June 2022.

Moghe, Sonia. “Testimonies Conclude in Defamation Case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.” CNN, 26 May 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/05/26/entertainment/johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial/index.html.

Nast, Condé. “The Johnny Depp–Amber Heard Trial Is Not as Complicated as You May Think.” The New Yorker, 23 May 2022, www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial-is-not-as-complicated-as-you-may-think.

Tamburino. “3 Situations Where False Accusations Ruined Lives.” Caplan & Tamburino Law Firm, P.A., 27 Feb. 2017, www.caplantamburino.com/blog/2018/july/3-situations-where-false-accusations-ruined-live/.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the various authors in this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Kamiak High School or The Gauntlet.