If you have not heard of the celebrity news between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, it has been all over the media since late May and still persists today.
Within hours of the news breaking, people on social media began accusing Heard of being a liar, a fraud, a nobody and a “gold digger”. Depp’s daughter, ex-wife and friends defended his character and stated that he would never be capable of any sort of abuse. But, these are the people you would expect to stand up for Depp and committedly state any allegations of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse would be false. However, the responses of the public continues to reveal the disturbing way in which society views the actions of famous men while simultaneously spewing vitriol towards the women making claims domestic violence against them.
On May 23rd, Heard petitioned to divorce Depp after 15 months of marriage citing “irreconcilable differences”. She asked for spousal support, in which Depp sought to block the next day. On May 27th, Heard appeared in civil court with visible bruising on her face and requested a restraining order against Depp because he was allegedly drunk and had smashed a cell phone into her face on May 21st. She claimed that Depp had been verbally and physically abusive during the entirety of their relationship.
Police did respond to their residence on May 21st, but “determined a crime did not occur” after the actress gave no evidence of injury and declined to file a report. in her court declaration, Heard also referenced an alleged attack on April 21st when Depp arrived home drunk and became violent towards her and on December of 2015 in which she feared for her life. The judge granted her the restraining order, keeping Depp at least 100 yards away. Heard also requested spousal support of $50,000, which she withdrew weeks later. However, Depp’s lawyer accused Heard of alleging the abuse for financial gain in their divorce proceedings.
Most of the people on social media do not know Depp personally, yet are quick to stigmatize Heard or be “pro- Depp”. But why? Because he has played roles in Disney and is therefore incapable of being a violent man? Or because she is much younger and what other interest would she have in an older man besides his money?
Throughout this media frenzy, Heard’s age, sexuality, and career status has been brought up in defense of Team Depp. However, there has not been much, if any, uproar in regards to Depp and his previous assault records.
In 1994, Depp trashed his suite at the Mark Hotel during a fight with Kate Moss, causing over $15,000 worth of damages and has been arrested several other times for assault. Yet, these incidents were not detrimental to his career. Rather, it supported his persona of being a mysterious bad boy. These incidents were not even the first thing to be brought up when we learned that Depp allegedly came home drunk agitated and threw objects that ended up bruising Heard.
In this case, Depp has always been portrayed with the persona of being a mysterious “troubled” artist, who deep down is the sweetest man. And for some reason, society wants to keep ahold of that belief, and does not want to believe that we live in a world where a celebrity like Depp is capable of his actions. This says a lot about the standard that the public holds of famous men in our society or even men in power.
Furthermore, Depp may in fact be the sweetest man in the world in certain situations, but this does not preclude him from becoming violent in other situations especially if alcohol or drugs are involved. Heard may or may not have married Depp for the money and fame, but that does not mean she cannot be a victim.
Depp may or not be guilty, by why do we automatically assume that Heard is lying? There is definitely people who have researched this topic and have found “inconsistencies” in Heard’s story and believe she is lying about the abuse. But there must have been an automatic unconscious thought that Heard was lying in the first place, that led to the need to search for the “facts”. The fact that so many people are comfortable making claims toward and against Heard without it being proven in court, shows the normalized victim-blaming within our culture.
Often times, victims of abuse do not come forward because of the stigma, embarrassment, fear, or shame they may feel. Heard’s case readily reinforces those fears that victims of abuse may have; which is the fear that they may not be believed or receive backlash in the processes of coming forward against their abuser. As a result, many victims of abuse do not come forward at all.
The fact of the matter is domestic violence is an epidemic rooted in our culture and occurs more often than people would like to believe. But in reality:
- 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will be the victims of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
- Women with disabilities are 40% more likely to experience intimate partner violence than women without disabilities.
- 2 in 5 gay or bisexual men will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetimes.
- A transgender person of color is 2.6 times more likely to be a victim of intimate partner violence than a non-LGBT person.
Domestic violence or intimate partner violence can happen to anyone, yet is often dismissed, overlooked, or excused. It does not just include physical abuse, but may also be financial, sexual, emotional or a combination of all. The gravity of this issue is real and rather than automatically assuming the victim is lying (celebrity or not), regardless of the circumstances, we need to accept the fact that anyone can be a victim or abuser. The sooner that happens, the sooner we as a society can start moving toward solutions.
If you feel you or someone you know is experiencing abuse call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or visit their website NDVH.org for more information.
