“Cancel culture” has been rampant as of late. If someone makes a mistake in the past, they are forced to have it ruin their lives forever. In many instances, however, the situation is more complicated than a bad person doing a bad thing and therefore deserving no respect. “Canceling” someone who just made a mistake is an entirely different story. The most recent example of this was heartthrob Johnny Depp.
There were rumors circulating that Johnny Depp had abused his wife, Amber Heard. Following this, many fans of Depp decided they would be unable to support someone who physically and emotionally abused his wife. Heard came forward with news of the abuse in May of 2016, where she was immediately praised for her bravery. She gained love and admiration, while Depp was ostracized by his former fans. Many people went as far as to boycott his films, inciting outrage when he was not removed from his role in “Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindlewald.” He was, however, removed from the role Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Heard went on to win the “Woman of the Year Award” from Glamour magazine for her activism surrounding domestic violence and sexual abuse.
All was right in the world, with the abuser caught and the abuse “canceled.” That is, until Depp decided to sue his ex-wife for defamation in 2019. Depp not only stuck to his guns that he did not, in fact, abuse her, but also provided the courts with 40 pages of evidence proving that Heard abused him, instead. This, of course, sparks controversy. If Heard can lie, any abuse claim could be faked. Alternatively, Depp has not been proven to be telling the truth, but he and his team seem excited to provide evidence.
This begs the question: If someone accuses someone of abusing them, should we believe them without any evidence? In short, yes. The number of false claims that have been proven are microscopic. Any respectable person would not fabricate abuse to further their careers or to ruin another person’s career. Being brave enough to come forward, ignoring any potential social repercussions, is incredible. If evidence comes out later proving they did not, in fact, abuse their significant other, that is much more fixable than not believing an abuse survivor from the beginning.
Photo from DAVE via Flickr
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If one person can lie, so can another, sure. However, in Depp’s case, he also provided surveillance video evidence from the building security footage (not stuff he’d filmed himself and potentially edited to his liking, unlike Heard filming a rant that wasn’t in anyway directed to her presenting Depp as “violent” when he didn’t so much as call her a bitch in the entire video).
The security camera footage was available in the Depp-Heard divorce trial, but Depp’s former lawyer had to cover it up because of a conflict of interest: Heard would be proven to have been cheating on Depp throughout their marriage with Elon Musk, who was another client of Depp’s lawyers’. In the conflict of interest, the Bloom etc, could not even leave Depp with a new lawyer, because THEY would have presented the evidence that would clear Depp and bring up an unrelated party into the spotlight; their client Elon Musk, seen on the videos. Bloom etc. had to go for the next best option, have Heard drop the charges and not go to court with it, so Musk would be protected while still getting an acceptable solution. However, the rumors didn’t die out because the public didn’t know the whole truth, and the rest is history.
Also, Heard’s lies were so inconsistent and obvious payback for Depp stating he wanted the marriage to end (as was revealed in the new documents, and something I personally suspected was the case, particularly after the bed pooping incident came to light), that it is amazing the public didn’t see through it. I don’t even think Heard herself thought anyone would believe her for long, but such is the attitude: “All women must be believed or nobody will be believed” that people took her story for face value and took her and her immediate friends’ and sisters word over 10+ eyewitnesses who were not Depp’s personal friends, assuming he’d “bribed” them all, insinuating that EVERYONE has a price, and none of these over 10 strangers would raise a red flag and testify that he’d paid them to lie. A big gamble.
“This begs the question: If someone accuses someone of abusing them, should we believe them without any evidence? In short, yes. The number of false claims that have been proven are microscopic. Any respectable person would not fabricate abuse to further their careers or to ruin another person’s career. Being brave enough to come forward, ignoring any potential social repercussions, is incredible. If evidence comes out later proving they did not, in fact, abuse their significant other, that is much more fixable than not believing an abuse survivor from the beginning. ” no, you believe evidence! Stop trying to turn everything into a witchhunt. You say if proof comes out later it is more fixable… there is no way to turn back a clock on your life should you be forced to serve time when you are innocent. This is the most disturbing piece I’ve read in a long time. You are condoning a destruction of due process. Does this apply when the abuser is female? It sure doesn’t feel like it. Women lie, as do men. This is why evidence is the ONLY way to deal with it. Many, many men I know have been abused severely and never reported it. This piece shows exactly why. You simply don’t care. Men need protection too.