Will Johnny Depp win his case thanks to social networks?

In Fairfax County, Va., court, Taylor Anne Swartz says she flew in from Chicago to support her idol, whom she met in 2018. Inspired by her side true and sincere who helped her on her journey when she was being bulliedthe young woman says that her life has been changed and that she has since realized some of her dreams.

Being in court every day is therefore a kind of dismissal, according to her. Taylor Anne Swartz will stop at nothing to attend the hearings. Two days ago, she was there in the middle of the night, just before 2:00 a.m., in line to get a trial access bracelet, when the distribution didn’t take place until five hours later.

The outcome of the trial is in no doubt, she said. I don’t see how he couldn’t win when you see all the evidence and testimony uncovered in court and all the lies Amber Heard has told. I am quite confident.

Jaye Jefferson, who lives in the neighboring state of Maryland, took a chance in a bid to catch a glimpse of the film’s star Pirates of the Caribbean. He seems so sincere and to see him go through all this, it’s really a shame, she confides to us. I hope he will win his case.

A sordid trial

At the base of this lawsuit which quickly turned to the unpacking of dirty laundry and sordid stories between the two spouses since divorced, Johnny Depp claims that his ex-wife ruined his reputation and his career and caused him to lose juicy film contracts after having written in December 2018 an editorial in the washington post.

Amber Heard described herself as a public figure victim of domestic violence, without mentioning the name of Depp. The same year, the tabloid The Sun called the actor female drummer. In this lawsuit, he is therefore suing the actress for defamation for 50 million US dollars. She retaliates by counter-pursuing him for 100 million.

A guaranteed victory?

Accessible live on web platforms, this trial feeds an incredible amount of memes taken up and declined en masse on social networks, in particular on TikTok. Judging by the overwhelming majority of clips, as well as numerous comments on the live streams, Johnny Depp wins hands down.

What we see here is a social media battle with very toxic hashtags and comments, and Johnny Depp is really winning the social media war.notes Dr. Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center, based in Newport Beach, California.

A victory in this media battle which could well turn into a victory in court. It’s very dangerous for our traditional legal system because it’s very difficult to isolate the judge or the jurors from all this talk and interpretations on social media.

From #MeToo to #MenToo

On the signs held up by supporters of Johnny Depp like Taylor Anne Swartz, we notice a transformation from #MeToo (#MeToo) to #MenToo (#LesHommesAussi), in this trial which highlights domestic violence. Very often, during trials on this type of cause, women lean in favor of the one who is presumed to be the victim. However, in this case, that does not seem to be the case, if we trust the hordes of supporters who defend the actor.

A turnaround that does not surprise Pamela Rutledge. We usually try to understand a story by separating the good from the bad. The whole history of the #MeToo movement revolves around women wanting their power back from the men who have taken advantage of them.

In this lawsuit, she says, Amber Heard was complicit in this kind of problematic behavior.

We don’t know who was really abusive or how it will all play out in this trial, but what we do know is that there are so many uncertainties that people from the #MeToo movement who supported her at the beginning began to distance themselves from her.

The social media court

In recent years, assault charges have more often than not been argued and tried in social media court. It seems like Johnny Depp really had no choice but to go public because his career had already been destroyed, the director of the Center for Media Psychology Research believes.

She believes, however, that thanks to his base of admirers and the image of Hollywood films, the actor risks having an advantage in the outcome of the trial. We always like the hero who comes back at the end in a positive way. I believe that here we have a story of redemption.

A base entirely devoted to Depp

Jaye Jefferson, for whom it is the first day outside the court, will return if she is not lucky enough to see her favorite actor. Regardless of the decision of the jury, she maintains, we will always be there to support him.

Same story on the side of Taylor Anne Swartz, who knows that her Johnny is good, sincere, and that Amber Heard will lose this trial.