The Heard v. Depp Trial – An Opportunity To Discuss The Nuances Of Intimate Partner Violence Not Just A Media Spectacle
Strip away the celebrity intrigue and media frenzy, and the high-profile court battle between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard involves issues painfully familiar to many women and men across America.
The civil defamation case, which ended on June 1, 2022 with a jury ruling largely in favor of Depp, centered around discussion of intimate partner violence. IPV is experienced by an estimated 6.6 million women and 5.8 million men each year in the U.S.
Depp filed the libel lawsuit against Heard after she wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post describing her experience as a “public figure representing domestic violence.” A jury found that Heard had defamed Depp and awarded the American actor in excess of US$10 million in damages. Meanwhile Heard was awarded $2 million in a counterclaim after ...