As a rule, I have no interest in celeb gossip – affairs & divorces are of little interest in general. However, the Johnny Depp – Amber Heard imbroglio has been too in your face, the hostility on both sides too evident to be ignored. It made me wonder about how it is that two people who (must have) loved each other now seem to hate each other with such fervour and have such completely opposing views of the sequence of events. Depp is suing Heard, his ex-wife for $50 million over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote and the trial is ongoing right now.
Divorces can be hostile but this one seems more antagonistic than most, with both parties hurling charges of physical abuse at each other; both denying the charges of the other. There seems to be the need to hurt and punish, not just accuse each other
The couple met in 2009 and started dating in 2011 while Depp was still involved with Vanessa Paradis, his partner of 14 years. In 2009, Heard was arrested for hitting her then-partner Tasya Van Ree at an airport, but the charges were dropped.
Depp has had a history of substance abuse and is known to have struggled with alcohol and prescription drugs. The first allegation of abuse dates back nearly ten years.
Clearly it has been a turbulent relationship; however the two got engaged and later married.
There have been allegations of Depp hitting Heard, and text messages about the incidents, apologies and so on have been presented as evidence at the trial. Depp was said to have relapsed into substance abuse and there have been more allegations of violent abuse from that time.
The two got married in February 2015 and the marriage lasted two years before they called it quits
Depp sought medical help for a severed finger. His texts to the doctor said that he had injured himself; later it was alleged that this injury was inflicted by Heard.
Heard has made several more allegations of physical abuse, illegal confinement against Depp and Depp has made several accusations against Heard as well.
All the dirty linen is being aired out right now. The two sides are making the most horrific claims against each other. There have been instances where both have been photographed with what appear to be injuries.
Heard is being publicly reviled and here is a tsunami of hate being expressed for her. Fans of Depp in particular seem convinced that he is the victim.
There are a lot of people who believe that there is one villain and one victim in this story. Recordings such as these are presented to ‘prove’ that there is only one abuser. However, a relationship between a very famous, rich and successful man who is almost twice the age of the woman has to have a serious power imbalance, which has to be considered.
The world is watching the inner machinations of a broken relationship and presuming to decide who is to blame. There is abuse and trauma; clearly there are difficult backstories.
I think it is distasteful, the gleeful interest people are taking in the crashing and burning of a troubled relationship, and now this defamation trial. People have made up their minds about innocence and guilt. Maybe both individuals in the relationship were abusive, maybe one person has more to answer for than the other. But how does this concern anyone else? How about we keep our salacious interest away from the pain of these two individuals? There is other pain in the world – and as this tweet says, there is an ongoing war that should concern us so much more.
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