It is clear from all of the trial testimony that the Depp-Heard relationship was a deeply dysfunctional one. It’s tough to look at the weight of the evidence presented at trial and conclude that Depp never once abused Heard. After all, this is a man who is on tape saying to Heard, “I head butted you in the forehead” (expletive removed) and who sent text messages fantasizing about drowning, raping, and burning Heard’s corpse. In one text, he wrote of Heard, “I‘ll smack the ugly C**t around before I let her in don’t worry.”
This verdict is perhaps the biggest blow to the #MeToo movement since its inception. And that’s true, again, even if you don’t believe Heard’s version of events: the lesson of this trial is that one can be as careful as possible in speaking out about abuse and still be financially gouged into silence.
The US has very liberal defamation laws, because we have decided that there must be a balance between free speech rights and any individual’s ability to protect their reputation – that people should generally have to write to speak and publish what they want, short of publishing negligent and damaging statements or malicious lies. And that’s why the words themselves matter. Much of the Depp-supporting internet has decided that Heard maliciously lied when she said Depp abused her. But the question was whether Heard maliciously lied in her Washington Post op-ed.
This verdict is a victory for Depp, but it isn’t a win for justice. And it’s not just Heard who’s losing out here – it’s anyone who would risk speaking out about the powerful, and it’s the principle of free speech itself.”
