Johnny Depp v Amber Heard is victim-blaming in HD… what hope is there for ‘normal’ women?
HE may be a three-time Oscar nominee, but this is rapidly becoming the performance of Johnny Depp’s life.
Smiling, waving and blowing kisses to fans, cracking gags with a knowing wink, he’s treated his daily court appearances much like he would a red carpet movie premiere.
In contrast, red-faced, bare-cheeked and sobbing, Amber Heard’s testimony has been utterly harrowing to watch.
Yet watching we are. Nine million of us have tuned in to see the $50million defamation case between the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor and his ex-wife.
It’s rapidly becoming a blockbuster of the most awful kind.
Aired on YouTube and Court TV, the lines between entertainment and justice have blurred beyond all recognition.
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Voyeurs have been lapping up the unfolding drama like they would an episode of Bridgerton. Minus the bustles.
Unlike Bridgerton, these past three weeks have made for unedifying viewing — made all the worse by the horrific abuse being dished out to Amber.
Memes, TikTok songs, sick ditties and doctored photos are doing the rounds online, making the clearly traumatised 36-year-old a global laughing stock.
There’s a petition calling for her to be dropped from Aquaman 2.
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Yesterday the hashtag #amberheardisapsycopath was doing the rounds.
On IMDB, the industry’s official database, her name was briefly changed to “Amber Turd”. Which is nice.
#justiceforjohnny continues to trend on Twitter, while his moronic fans — evidently seeing beyond the coke bloat — believe People magazine’s one-time Sexiest Man Alive still has it. He doesn’t.
This is a man who lost his High Court case against The Sun in November 2020.
He’s a confirmed wife-beater, a “man” who held Amber hostage for three days, left her fearing for her life and who once texted he planned to drown and burn her as a witch and “f*** her burnt corpse after”
And Amber’s crime?
Standing up for battered women. Calling out abusers. Having the courage to describe alleged sexual violence — one incident involving a wine bottle is every bit as horrific as you might imagine.
Despite having forensic psychologist Dr Dawn Hughes testify about allegations she was subjected to domestic and sexual violence by her ex, still she’s called a liar.
Accused of making up her PTSD, of having a personality disorder, this is a victim-blaming — and shaming — in high definition.
In criminal or family law cases, Amber would be able to deliver her highly emotive, heart-breaking evidence by video link or from behind a screen.
Instead, because this is a defamation case, it’s being broadcast live on the internet.
If this is how women get treated when they come forward, where’s the incentive? Where is the protection?
PUBLIC HUMILIATION
According to a 2018 report by Women’s Aid, only two per cent of women reported domestic abuse to the police.
A good friend of mine was sexually assaulted by a famous star Stateside.
She considered going to the police, but couldn’t face the resulting fall-out, the public humiliation, re-living the horror incident.
The cretin remains free, a predator, able to force himself upon other women.
Amber Heard has a platform. She has millions in the bank and a crack legal and PR team around her.
She has voice recordings, photos of her bruises, damning text messages. The evidence is there for all to see.
Still she’s branded a liar.
What hope do normal women have?
Those mocking Amber’s torment should be ashamed.
Shockingly, the majority of them are women — so much for the sisterhood.
This case threatens to set women back 30 years.
More needs to be done to support the victims of abuse — victims shouldn’t be the ones abused.
Keir's wise words
SO, Sir Keir Starmer has been hoisted by his own self-righteous petard.
Having delivered a pious, never-ending monologue in the House of Commons about just why Boris should resign over Partygate, he’s now been undone by a poppadom.
As the Labour leader himself said: “The more people debase themselves, the more the public will believe all politicians are the same. All as bad as each other.”
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Queen is one to see
LET’S not be under any illusion.
The Queen’s forthcoming platinum jubilee will, in all likelihood, be her final hurrah.
For 70 years she has represented the country beyond reproach, dedicating her life to service with a stoicism millennials must find incomprehensible.
She’s guided us through wars, inflation, deaths, a global pandemic, and Meghan Markle.
Now there are fears ill-health will force her to miss certain events next month.
She is 96.
Since the death of her beloved soulmate, Prince Philip, there’s little doubt her health has deteriorated.
And yet, behind closed doors, she still manages to rule with an iron rod.
Banning her favourite son, Andrew, and cherished grandson Harry from the royal balcony must have been heartbreaking, and one of the hardest decisions of her exemplary reign.
A weaker woman would have crumbled.
Not Her Majesty.
Now she must see it through – and acknowledge her adoring public, no matter how frail, no matter how seemingly unmajestic she may feel.
Wheelchair, crutches, Zimmer frame; none of it matters.
The love for this woman is universal. We just want to see her.
Close the farcical case of Wagatha Christie
PICTURE the scene, if you will.
June 2006, and a gaggle of slightly orange, stiletto-heeled young women are dancing on tables, arms flailing, and nailing shots of sambuca in Baden-Baden’s Garibaldi’s bar.
And so the term Wag was coined.
As a cub reporter, I spent night after exhausting night trailing in the wake of these pampered, preening glamazonians – including a young Coleen Rooney.
These women, with their grotesque spending habits and love of Veuve, became an unlikely cultural phenomenon.
Sixteen years on, the party’s over.
This week, Coleen and fellow WAG Rebekah Vardy go at it hammer and tongs in the High Court in a dispute over the 21st century’s most famous ellipses.
As war in Ukraine rages and the cost of living rockets, these two self-obsessed women are racking up millions in legal fees over who did or didn’t plant stories in this newspaper.
Doubtless the two warring Wags, made up to the nines with a team of stylists and make-up artists, will use their court appearance as some kind of high-end fashion show.
Presiding over this farce is Mrs Justice Steyn, a judge whose back catalogue includes Saudi arms deals, Guantanamo Bay prisoners and human rights abuses.
From today, the poor woman will oversee Wagatha Christie.
Let’s hope she puts us all out of our misery – and an end to this farce.
Deliver ooooh
WE are a nation of porkers – and getting fatter by the nanosecond.
According to the World Health Organisation, food delivery apps such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats are fuelling an obesity crisis of “epidemic proportions” – and could make Britain the fattest country in Europe within a decade.
No s***, Sherlock.
One recent, hungover low saw me order in a hat-trick of Deliveroos – breakfast, lunch and a mid-afternoon waffle and ice-cream snack.
On the same day, my phone’s pedometer told me I’d managed 139 steps.
Shameful.
Seven words
IF only the Left could be a bit more Anne Robinson.
“A woman is someone with a vagina,” she concluded in an interview at the weekend; thus ending the trans debate in seven words.
Take note, Labour.
Seething
UTTERLY seething.
After hauling three giant bin bags-worth of clothes to my local charity shop last month, not one item has yet made it on to the shop floor.
A ringing endorsement of my sartorial sass, then.
French divide
AND herein lies the difference between us and the French.
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Coralie Dubost, an MP for Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique en Marche, has resigned after being caught claiming hundreds of pounds-worth of sexy lingerie.
Meanwhile, in the same week, our own elected official, Neil Parish, was forced out for watching giant tractor porn. Sacre bleu (movie)!
Time-space continuum
THE time-space continuum has been rocked.
On Sunday the BBC announced the latest Timelord, Ncuti Gatwa.
The first black actor to play Dr Who, obviously the Beeb was immediately accused of box-ticking tokenism.
The reality is that this 29-year-old, stand-out star of the ever-brilliant Sex Education, is supremely talented.
Give the lad a chance.