A hashtag defending Amber Heard went viral on Twitter Monday after what appeared to be unsealed court documents in the defamation case filed by Johnny Depp were made public by a YouTuber known for her legal commentary.
The hashtag, “#AmberHeardDeservesAnApology,” first surfaced over the weekend after the Daily Beast published some of the findings from the court documents. Heard’s team said Depp, her ex-husband, asked to introduce nude photos of Heard into evidence, according to The Daily Beast. Her lawyers also suggested that Depp change or edit audio recordings of the couple’s fight, the outlet reported.
Lawyers for Depp and Heard declined to comment. NBC News has not independently reviewed the documents, but has seen purported copies circulating online, including pages posted by YouTuber Andrea Burkhart on her website. Burkhart, a Washington-based attorney, has amassed 50,000 followers on YouTube, where she posts legal commentary about various celebrity trials that have generated public interest in the past year. She did not respond to a request for comment.
The online support, which was created by some of her fans, marks a change in attitude towards Heard, who, during the six-week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia, became the center of backlash from Depp’s fans. , while the proceedings were broadcast around the world. the country.
Since Heard came forward with allegations against Depp, social media users have fiercely defended Depp. Hashtags like “#JusticeForJohnnyDepp” garnered billions of views on platforms like TikTok during the trial.
Discourse around the trial has remained a common conversation on social media platforms. Some dedicated users have continued to bash Heard while praising Depp. Depp’s supporters and the creators who covered the trial, some of whom made money from their coverage, have also worked for weeks to uncover new details about the case, which ended on June 1.
Depp had sued Heard over her 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, in which she said she had become a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Although the essay never mentioned Depp by name, his lawyers said it indirectly referred to allegations she made against him during their divorce in 2016. A jury awarded him $10 million in punitive damages and $5 million in compensatory damages in his defamation suit. Heard, who countersued Depp, was also awarded $2 million in damages. Punitive damages are capped at $350,000 in Fairfax County.
During the trial, Ron Schnell, the director of Berkeley Research Group, an international consulting firm, testified about hashtags he examined from April 2020 to January 2022. He said he observed more than 2 million negative tweets about Heard.
Hashtags included “JusticeForJohnnyDepp”, “AmberHeardIsAnAbuser”, “WeJustDontLikeYouAmber” and “AmberTurd”.
Hashtags continued to explode in popularity outside the parameters examined by Schnell, including the hashtag “JusticeForJohnnyDepp,” which eclipses the 2 million hashtags Schnell had surveyed.
Heard’s social media abuse became so severe that some domestic abuse survivors and Heard supporters said they were afraid to speak out.
In recent weeks, YouTuber Burkhart accepted donations from viewers of her channel to pay over $3,300 to download the new court documents, which were unsealed on July 13.
After publishing the documents, which contain more than 6,000 pages, on her website, Burkhart and her followers sparked more scrutiny of Depp from people online.
Some of Heard’s defenders pointed out that Depp lost a defamation case in the United Kingdom two years ago over allegations that he hit Heard. Depp had sued the company that owns The Sun and the paper’s executive editor for calling him a “wife beater” in 2018. A judge ruled against Depp in 2020, saying the tabloid had presented substantial evidence to show that he was violent toward Heard on at least 12 of 14 occasions.
“#AmberHeardDeservesAnApology to all those rallying around her abuser, who was already declared a wife beater by a UK court in 2020.” wrote one user on Twitter.
Another person posted on Twitter: “#AmberHeardDeservesAnApology from all over the world mocking, mocking and mocking her for entertainment purposes. Apologize to Amber Heard. Start believing the victims when they talk. They’re not lying, they’re not plotting, they’re not crazy, they’re survivors.”
“All social media and most of the mainstream media owe Amber an apology. A truth. No ‘but’, no ‘we didn’t know’, not a REAL apology,” another user posted.
Heard’s legal team filed a motion to appeal the ruling last month. Depp filed a notice of appeal against Heard the next day.
Diana Dasrath CONTRIBUTORS.
