The Harms Of The Court Of Public Opinion
The internet has been dominated by the defamation case between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. Discussion of the case has run rampant on social media sites and news channels. However, calling it a discussion is generous considering that the trial became an uncritical show of support for Depp and an attack on Heard lacking in nuance.
From the start of the televised drama, the public saw both individuals as one-dimensional TV characters with well-defined roles. In the court of public opinion, Depp was the mistreated hero and Heard the Machiavellian villain. The judgment from the court of public opinion was made far before the one made in the court of law.
The simplistic outlook on the defamation trial is not true to reality. This was a trial on a very specific issue of defamation and to what degree very specific published statements were substantiated by admissible evidence or not. We do not have the full picture of the situation.
The same article published by Heard was judged to not be defamatory in a previous court ruling in the UK. Additionally, in this same trial where Depp won on most counts, Heard won a countersuit where she fought a statement made by Depp’s former lawyer calling her allegations a hoax. Both got some validation, proving that the only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain.
We know that both of them hurt each other extensively because there is ample public audio and pictorial evidence. However, what we do not know is who started the abuse or how the power dynamics in the relationship came into play. Would you judge a victim of abuse who fought back? Surely not.
I will not make the same mistake the court of public opinion made by refusing to make definitive statements on something that is not confirmed. I won’t say that Heard was a victim who fought back against abuse and got blood on her hands, but the fact that she might be is important.
What good comes from bullying and harassing Amber Heard? Nothing. However, the potential harms are very real. The oversimplification of Depp as innocent was at least in part due to his stardom. The vilification of Heard as not being a victim because she also hurt Depp reinforces the harmful idea that victims need to be perfect to be believed.
We must treat these situations with great nuance. We should not make judgments when we have limited information on the complexity of a situation. If you want to make a judgment, keep it to yourself to avoid harming victims of abuse who may face stricter standards of victimhood and virtuosity to receive help.
As the old saying goes, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
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