#i stand with amber heard

[justiceamberheard]

Maïwenn looks at me. “I have to be honest. It’s difficult to shoot with him... all the crew were scared because he has a different kind of humour and we didn’t know if he was going to be on time, or if he was going to be OK to say his lines... I mean, even if he was there on set, on time, the crew were afraid of him.” Nor has the situation improved. “There’s been no normal relationship since the shoot,” says Maïwenn. She shrugs. “Johnny for me is a huge genius but he’s in another world. I cannot communicate with him.”

once again depp proving that he is a truly piece of shit.

[always-rolling-my-eyes]

I’ve been side eyeing this lady since she made those comments about the Depp / Heard trial and now this…something a’int right with her 👀

[spaceeoddity]

As a verdict is possibly hours away, a sense of dread has been building in my stomach for what it will mean for Amber’s future, as well as all victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), particularly as women’s basic rights continue to be under attack in the United States. Like many people who are following the case, I have personal experiences with abuse. Much of my research focuses on IPV, specifically, the disparities in resources and services that are available for survivors to leave their abusers, such as economic, social, geographical barriers. It’s a topic which is deeply tied to my own personal experiences and academic career.

I initially was ambivalent to Amber Heard. Before I began to research the case, I was firmly in the "they both suck" camp, having only briefly glanced through articles. I started to pay more attention to the media coverage over the past six weeks and was really staggered by how Heard was being portrayed as a lying, crazy, gold-digging woman through narratives that were not only going unchallenged, but were heavily perpetuated in the public discourse. Even worse, that the abuse she experienced had been capitalized on by "true crime" junkies and mocked in TikTok videos and Youtube compilations. So I began watching the trial live and found that there was far more evidence and far more substantial evidence which shows that JD was the perpetrator of abuse within their relationship.

The evidence collected through JD's personal texts and emails show an early pattern of abuse. He exerted control over the clothes Amber wore and would become angry when she didn't dress "conservatively". He would consistently accuse her of having affairs with acquaintances, friends, and various co-stars, even with an openly gay director, Clive Barker. He didn't like that she was ambitious and would scorn her when she took opportunities to advance her career. He would constantly refer to her with misogynistic language. He also referred to Amber, an openly bisexual woman, as a “lesbian camp counsellor”. He messaged other men to discuss killing her through drowning and burning her, and then raping her burnt corpse to prove that she was truly dead. This all occurred while they were still dating. She was in her early 20s and he was in 50s. All of these coercive, paranoid, jealous, controlling behaviours are deeply and unequivocally abusive.

None of this includes the evidence which shows physical and sexual abuse. There are audio tapes in which he admits to headbutting her, so hard that she was concerned her nose was broken. In another recording, they discuss how her family and friends have seen her bruises, broken blood vessels, and bald spots from her hair being torn out of her scalp. Another shows him stating “I will smack the ugly c**t before I let her in.” A video shows him aggressively breaking and smashing furniture near her. One interaction reveals that Stephen Deuters, his assistant, begged her to come back to him after her assaulted her on a plane in front of his bodyguards, pleading to her that JD was remorseful for his actions. Heard also has stated he sexually assaulted her multiple times. Remember, he previously discussed violently raping her in those infamous messages to Paul Bettany.

As for witnesses, several testified to seeing bruises on her numerous times, including JD's witnesses, such as their marriage counsellor. A makeup artist, Melanie Inglessis, testified to covering swelling on her lip and two black eyes. Raquel Pennington saw several injuries, including bloodied bald spots on her head, a swollen nose, and cut lip. She expressed fear JD would eventually kill Amber if she didn't leave. Josh Drew also testified to seeing her with injuries, including black eyes, a swollen cheek, and a busted lip. iO Tillet Wright (who Depp misgenders throughout his testimony) recalled hearing JD assault Amber and scream “oh, you think I hit you? You think I fucking hit you? What if I peel your fucking hair back". iO then called 911. This was the incident which led Heard to file for a divorce and a restraining order, two days afterwards. It is worth noting that Pennington, Drew, and Wright all corroborated this incident in their depositions, as did iO’s 2016 essay.

Is she guilty of fighting back? Absolutely. She never lied about doing so, even dating back to her 2016 deposition. However, fighting back against a man who has beaten you, sexually assaulted you, controlled your career, finances, and who you can associate with does not equate to being an abuser. It’s simply surviving. And yes, I’ve heard those audio tapes, the in which she’s expresses her incredulity at him for stating their fights were fair when she feared he would kill her.

His case has relied upon deeply misogynistic narratives to discredit both her claims and her character. She was after his money all along, even though she refused the 30 million dollar fortune she was legally entitled to, as there was no prenup. She painted on bruises, even though a makeup artist testified to covering up her swollen lip and two black eyes. She cut off his finger, even though multiple texts and even an audio recording showcase him admitting to doing it in the midst of a bender. She didn't donate her money, even though she and the organization created a 10 year plan for her to make yearly payments (in my personal opinion, what she does with her money either way is nobody's fucking business). Also worth noting, an ACLU representative testified to her being ahead of schedule until Depp began suing her. She made up a hoax, because she documented her abuse - as we advise all people who are in abusive situations to do. She's a liar, because women are inherently deceitful liars.

None of the evidence that JD's attorneys presented has proven that she defamed him through her op-ed piece. That's likely because their goal was never to prove that her article - which never explicitly references him or their relationship - impacted his career. Those who watched the trial will know, Tracy Jacobs, his agent of 30 years stated that it was his drug and alcohol abuse, anger issues, chronic lateness (7 or 8 hours late to set each day), and unprofessionalism that led to his career decline. Film crews grew tired of working around these problems, and eventually, so did Hollywood. Tina Newman, a Disney Corporate Representative who worked on POTC stated no one knew of Amber’s op-ed until Depp sued her. 

The trial was always meant to humiliate, shame, and terrorize her. We are witnessing in a powerful man terrorize his ex-wife through the legal system, all while the world makes TikToks of her sexual assault testimony. JD has a documented history of violence and is due for another court date after assaulting a crew member of the set of City of Lies. To quote his own words, “If I’m angry and I’ve got to lash out or hit somebody, I’m going to do it and I don’t care what the repercussions are. Anger doesn’t pay rent, it’s gotta go. It’s gotta be evicted.”

I don't know whether Amber Heard will win her case. We’re witnessing a radical right-wing political swing to control and criminalize women’s bodies with Roe v. Wade under attack right now. To be blunt, I have very little faith in the justice system and that a jury - in Virginia of all places - will rule in favour of an abused woman over her charismatic, powerful ex-husband. However, I think it's important to remember that Amber did everything right, that is, everything we tell women to do. She documented her abuse, left her abusive partner, and was granted a restraining order - and she's continuing to be punished for doing so. If Amber, a privileged white woman with access to economic resources, is still struggling to escape her abuser, how can we expect women without those privileges to?

[anthroxlove]

Amazing support for Amber in Paris, France this week.  The two phrases in French read “Support for Amber Heard” and “Amber Heard, you are not alone”.

(credit to the amazing people at NousToutes)

[laurellavenderhaze]

some of my favourite pictures of amber <3

[gettingscrazy]

AMBER HEARD Photoshoot - Grazia Italia (2019)

[iloveyoumost]

Have fun reading this thread 🧵

Also I hope every single person who celebrated Johnny deep’s “win” feel so embarrassed about your shitty behavior and you celebrated an abusive man control over his victim

[daenerysoftarth]

Remember when exactly one year ago today the world celebrated a bisexual woman being harassed by her abuser, and applauded him for successfully using the court system to further humiliate and hurt her. Remember when they showed his homophobic/transphobic texts in court—which he used as justification for his DV—and the jury decided that it didn’t really count. Remember when people waited outside the court house to hug and congratulate him for successfully getting away with it. On the first day of pride month.

[supeskenobi]

Despite the verdict in Virginia, he’ll never live this down. He appealed to three separate judges in the UK; and all three of them upheld the initial ruling. Johnny Depp IS a wife beater. Never let him forget this.

TERF’S DNI!!

[justiceamberheard]

I will NEVER leave that man alone, not after what he put Amber through. I will post EVERY negative thing about him, I will drag his abusive ass as long as I can because that man deserves the worst.

[annafuckinghaze]

[leaveheardalone]

[anthroxlove]

What do Britney Spears, Amber Heard, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Sinead O'Connor, Lindsay Lohan, Meghan Markle, Meg Thee Stallion, Amy Winehouse, Tina Turner, and Princess Diana have in common?

[hellsbellschime]

A video about the Depp v. Heard trial came up in my YT recommended earlier, and while I reflexively wanted to bail, I gave it a shot. It was a 3.5 hour long banger by what appears to be a criminally underrated channel that is better than every video I have ever made combined, but Jesus Christ I have been simmering with rage about that whole nightmare again ever since watching it. It is literally unbelievable to me that one person could be done so dirty in a situation that's THAT stupidly obvious. I'm literally going to die mad about it.

[wh0re-cha-ta]

Pretty depressing that we live in a world where far more people are willing to believe that a 24 year old woman got married to a man 25 years her senior, all so, over the course of 7 years. she could meticulously gather fake evidence of abuse (including diary entries, corroborating texts and photos), convince a bunch of witnesses to lie under oath and goad her then husband into admitting to headbutting her on tape in an elaborate Gone Girl scenario to… *checks notes* write one line in an op ed, than it is for people to believe a rich powerful man with a documented history of substance abuse and violent outbursts hit his wife.

[gettingscrazy]

AMBER HEARD INTERVIEW GERMANIA YEAR (2015)