Johnny Depp fans take aim at Amber Heard with degrading TikTok memes
Global News
Since the very start of the trial last month, Johnny Depp supporters online have analyzed Amber Heard's body language, movements and testimony with intense scrutiny.
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In today’s online culture, almost anything can be subject to memeification, and the most high-profile domestic violence trial in recent memory is no exception.
After only a few minutes spent on TikTok — a platform often, though sometimes mistakenly, heralded as being a progressive, Gen Z-dominated space for activism and social justice — the algorithm may very well start showing users trending topics like the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial.
However, social media users may be hard-pressed to find content in support of Heard, despite the ex-spouses both claiming to be victims of intimate partner violence. In fact, the vast majority of content about the trial posted on TikTok appears to be vehemently against Heard.
Since the very start of this trial last month, Depp supporters online have analyzed Heard’s body language, movements and testimony with intense scrutiny. As of this writing, the TikTok tag #JusticeforJohnnyDepp has a whopping 10.1 billion views — more than the tags #AmberHeard (8.4 billion views) and #JusticeforAmberHeard (37.2 million views) combined, though most of the videos in these tags are still anti-Heard.
According to Depp, Heard was a manipulative, abusive and overly “ambitious” partner. He testified she abused him physically and mentally, also claiming she severed his finger by throwing a glass bottle at his hand during an argument.
Heard, on the other hand, claims Depp was the abusive one throughout their relationship, allegedly subjecting her to physical violence on numerous occasions. Several text messages from Depp to fellow actor Paul Bettany were also read aloud in court, in which Depp tells his friend he wants to drown, burn and sexually defile Heard’s corpse.
Since Heard’s testimony last week — where she accused ex-husband Depp of several graphic instances of violence against her, including a sexual assault where she alleged Depp penetrated her with a glass bottle — it’s become a TikTok trend to mimic, mock and cast doubt on her claims.