This is not something I would normally cover here on a Disney fan site, but it’s something that needs to be pointed out as most people don’t even realize it’s happening. Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably heard about the Johnny Depp / Amber Heard defamation trial. The actual trial lasted a few weeks but the gaslighting of the general public will last much longer.

I’m sure many of you have watched some of the trial and / or saw some of the evidence that was shown. I know a lot of people were unaware of the story about Amber Heard defecating in the bed or Depp received an injury that severed his finger. A lot of people had their minds made up about the case before it started. The media and many sided with Amber Heard.

Then something happened.

This high profile case was televised and it gave all of us the chance to watch the testimonies and see and hear evidence that was not manipulated (not unlike several of the photographs were) by the media. As more and more came out and evidence was debunked, like the Milani compact, public opinion sided more and more with Mr. Depp.

When the trial ended the jury sided with Mr. Depp for the most part.  And many thought that was the end of it.

But it isn’t.  The media is angry.

They seem to be angry that people had the same access to the evidence as they did. Some in the industry believe that it is their job to control the evidence, control the story and tell people what the news is and what they should believe.

Public opinion sided with Depp and now some media outlets are working overtime to let you know what terrible people you are for not believing Amber Heard.

One news site even admitted that compelling evidence suggested she did act violently towards Depp, but since he’s a man and has more power than she does the verdict is unfair.

Main stream media is literally trying to gaslight the public and tell them what they saw and heard was all misdirection from toxic YouTubers and TikTokers. That siding with Depp makes one a duped person, a conservative, a misogynist, etc. and it sets women back decades.

The media is so desperate to get people to believe Amber Heard, after the trial has ended,  there are outlets comparing Row Vs Wade to the Johnny and Amber Heard trial. That’s right. If you side with Depp you are part of the problem with women’s reproductive rights, according to the media.

They tie gun control and school shootings to this trial. The implication is if you don’t believe Amber Heard you are complicit in the other bad things they are randomly linking together to desperately spin the narrative and regain control of the public.

Don’t just take my word for it. I have complied just a few of the many articles out there perpetuating this. I encourage you to read and form your own opinion instead of just accepting mine.

Vox, put out an article entitled:” The Me Too backlash is here: Johnny Depp’s legal victory and the death of Roe v. Wade are part of the same toxic cultural movement.“

Vox on Twitter comparing a Hollywood defamation case to Row V Wade in a desperate attempt to conflate support for Depp as dismissing women’s rights. Which is frankly sad.

Johnny Depp’s legal victory and the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade are part of the same toxic cultural movement, argues Vox senior correspondent Constance Grady.

Here is where the reaction leaves us: pic.twitter.com/jGAICzK4SC

— Vox (@voxdotcom) June 2, 2022

It’s true there is compelling evidence that Heard behaved violently toward Depp as well. But Depp at all times had more power than Heard.

He was older, richer, more famous, and more beloved. https://t.co/fzBcEMMkCy

— Vox (@voxdotcom) June 2, 2022

It’s true there is compelling evidence that Heard behaved violently toward Depp as well. But Depp at all times had more power than Heard.

He was older, richer, more famous, and more beloved. https://t.co/fzBcEMMkCy

— Vox (@voxdotcom) June 2, 2022

The official Vox Twitter account just basically said that she behaved badly but he’s richer. So what? So she shouldn’t be held accountable for abuse that Vox admits there was compelling evidence for because she was a woman or wasn’t as famous?

Buzz Feed in an article entitled “Why The Depp v. Heard Verdict Is So Brutal: The Johnny Depp defamation verdict against Amber Heard was a gutting experience.”

“I live in a country where abortion access is steadily being scaled back if not outright banned, where an 18-year-old can legally buy an assault rifle and kill a bunch of schoolchildren and their teachers, and where you can’t even talk about alleged domestic abuse in an oblique way for fear of reprisal. ”

Slate in an article entitled: “What Really Happened at the Amber Heard–Johnny Depp Trial: How a washed-up movie star, men’s rights activists, and true-crime fans duped America.“

It is almost entirely about her side of the story, retelling it again, painting her as a poor victim that all us stupid general public can’t understand because YouTube and TikTok “duped us all”

Yahoo News “Amber Heard Verdict Sends A Message To Black Women Everywhere“

Because if you don’t believe Amber Heard you don’t care about what happens to black women and you are siding with people mocking her pain.

“For Black women, who do not have whiteness or fame or money to protect them, Heard’s words of the verdict as a setback ring especially true. Whether you believe her or not, the way the world treated Heard was downright cruel and uncalled for. Not only were her bruises placed under a microscope by forensic experts during the trial, social media joined in on the skepticism.”

CNN “Toobin: Verdict in Depp-Heard case sends ‘chilling’ message“

“The press and the First Amendment is a tremendous loser” in the trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Jeffrey Toobin says. He predicts the verdict will be overturned on appeal, “but the message to the press has been a dark one.”

As many pointed out when they said it was fine to fire Gina Carano because the First Amendment lets you say what you want but doesn’t stop you from facing consequences. I guess that’s the same thing here right?

Also notice how the message to the press is a “dark one.” People aren’t just listening to them anymore so I’m sure it is a “dark one” for them.

The Guardian “What did Depp v Heard teach us? That justice and reality TV are incompatible: The US defamation trial has shown us how ‘transparency’ in court translates, which is into a festival of misogyny“

Right because if you don’t believe her you are clearly a “misogynist.” Real women and feminists should believe her because she’s a woman. If you don’t you are enabling abuse and hate women.

The New York Times ” The Actual Malice of the Johnny Depp Trial: In this post-#MeToo moment, misogyny and celebrity go hand in hand.“

Again with the whole he’s more famous so you didn’t really believe he was innocent based on evidence you just agreed to defend your own narrow-mindedness. Repent and not be a bad enabler.

“Because he’s a man. Celebrity and masculinity confer mutually reinforcing advantages. Famous men — athletes, actors, musicians, politicians — get to be that way partly because they represent what other men aspire to be. Defending their prerogatives is a way of protecting, and asserting, our own. We want them to be bad boys, to break the rules and get away with it. Their seigneurial right to sexual gratification is something the rest of us might resent, envy or disapprove of, but we rarely challenge it. ”

RollingStone has done several articles including this one entitled: “Republicans Are Doing Backflips Over Johnny Depp Winning His Defamation Case: It isn’t hard to understand why Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump Jr., and other right-wing figures are now standing behind the actor who once joked about assassinating Trump“

I have heard this from other places too. Republicans support Depp. The implication is that you support Depp you vote a certain way. Which is ridiculous. I know people that vote Democrat, Republican, Independent, Librarian, etc. who supported Depp.

“Conservatives have long despised Hollywood elites, so it may seem strange that the party is making such an effort to show its support for Depp. It’s doing so because it sees believing woman as a form of wokeness.”

Or maybe people saw the actual evidence and thought she was lying. It isn’t “wokeness” to not believe a woman based on evidentiary support or lack there of.

Yet another RollingStone article “Amber Heard’s Lawyer Says Actress Was ‘Demonized’ During Trial, Cites ‘Lopsided’ Social Media: Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively you won’t be believed,” lawyer Elaine Bredehoft says of verdict favoring Johnny Depp“

The article basically says the jurors only sided with Depp because they likely watched YouTube and TikTok. If jurors were so swayed, then we all must have been (even if we didn’t watch anything other than the actual court footage.)

“Over the course of the six-week trial, jurors were instructed to not engage with social media, where a “demoralizing and demeaning” campaign of viral videos attacked the actress on TikTok, as well as Twitter and Instagram. However, Bredehoft believes that, despite being warned to stay off the platforms, jurors were still likely swayed by what was happening online.”

A quick search will pull up pages of articles like these.

Then you have people like this actor on social media saying that those that supported Depp are “nazi-adjacent.“

Crazy Rich Asians actor (Board game designer and PC Gamer contributor) Calvin Wong Tze Loon has stated that he believes that if you don’t believe Amber Heard you are being radicalized into hatred and you are almost a Nazi.

If the media is doing this about Amber Heard what else have they done this with?

My point isn’t to tell people what to believe. Many believe Amber Heard and if you saw the evidence and came to that conclusion I am not going to tell you that you are a terrible person like the media is telling those that sided with Depp.

The point I’m trying to make is that many watched the trial and saw the evidence for themselves and based their support on that. It’s insulting for the media to imply that if one supports Depp, based on the evidence they saw, that they can not trust their own eyes, their own ears, and their own judgement. It is implied through correlations they are presenting that believing Depp over Heard makes one against women, against Row vs Wade, against victims, against black people, etc.

It’s ridiculous. I’ve seen this happen many times on pop-culture related things like whether or not you like Disney Star Wars, but now it’s them gaslighting the general public. It needs to be addressed.