About the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard Trial

We have yet another example of someone filing a defamation lawsuit which blows up in his face. History is full of examples of this, some of which I have discussed in this blog.

Amber Heard, Depp's ex-wife, wrote a newspaper commentary about domestic violence, describing herself as a victim. She never mentioned Depp by name, but sophisticated readers could figure out that Depp was who she was talking about.

Depp felt like her essay cost him millions when Disney cut him loose from the "Pirates of the Carribean" franchise, and he sued for $50 million. Heard countersued for $100 million, and now the trial is taking place.

Recent testimony poked huge holes in Depp's narrative, as his former friends and business associates testified to his increasing unreliability, due to his alcohol and drug use. He was habitually late to the set, and in all ways was just plain difficult to deal with. A Disney representative tetified nobody at Disney even knew about the Heard essay when they cut Depp loose.

This illustrates the down side of these defamation lawsuits. Your whole life is opened up to scrutiny, often with devastating effects for the plaintiff. Heard is no angel, but she is certainly not repsonsible for Depp's ruining his career. Neither party will likely get anything out of this public spectacle, other than the eternal embarrassment at having their dirty laundry broadcast to the world.