On June 1st 2022, a jury unanimously found that Amber Heard defamed Johnny Depp. Almost a year later, Channel 4 released a three-part documentary series titled Depp V Heard.
“People on Twitter have assumed that I’m doing some kind of feminist pro-Amber polemic. Well, I’m not, am I?” says BAFTA-nominated director Emma Cooper. This statement alone summarises the importance of the new series and Emmas' aim in making it: to address misinformation on the internet.
The series blends courtroom footage, news sources, existing interview footage, and user-generated content to explore some of the trials' biggest moments. The three parts – Truth On Trial, Breaking The Internet, and The Viral Verdict – offer no new or additional commentary, but they do provide an overview of what happened during the trial, in and out of the courtroom.
Because so much of the trial played out on TikTok, seeing it edited into a flowing event feels new.
Emma, speaking to me from LA (early in the day for her, late in mine), tells me that this series was inspired by her “own obsessive viewing of the case,” saying, “About halfway through the trial, I started to feel a bit uncomfortable about my own viewing of it, and my own need to discuss it. So I started talking to my team about it and two people at Channel Four, and we thought it was a really interesting phenomenon that happened to us all.
"And so I wanted to make a film or a series, about the social impact of it really, and about how we collectively were all drawn to it, and we all collectively felt a need to discuss it and have an opinion on it. And then, obviously, how that is reflected in social media. The series came out of my own interest in the case and my own behaviour.”
What has struck me most about the Depp v Heard case, and subsequent public (online) reaction has been the mass lack of critical thinking and media literacy. That's not to point fingers at individuals, but more a comment on how as a society, we got swept up in hysteria. In making the series, Emma came away feeling the power of socials, explaining, “There needs to be more of a responsibility on every individual to carve their own way through any particular moment of media.”
As for Johnny and Amber, she doesn't have an opinion about either of them: “I think that there are sad things that happened to Amber, I think there are sad things that happen to Johnny. And I think it is a sad event in any relationship. That's what I feel about that. But it's hard to see how if justice is played out in public, like this, that's quite a difficult thing for us as a society moving forward.”
She says, “It's not open to all of us to decide these things. There are lawyers, and there's a jury. The court of public opinion might be a great place for us all to hang out, but I don't think that should become how we decide on our justice.”
The biggest misunderstanding spread online was that the US case somehow proved Johnny Depp to be innocent of domestically abusing Amber Heard. Or that either one of them was found to be, legally, the victim of an abusive relationship.
“If everybody could just ask a few questions of themselves and about what they're hearing, and that applies to all of us, then I think that that's literally the only thing that you can do. You can't regulate anything anymore. It's a complete waste of time,” says Emma, adding, “We all have a personal responsibility not to fall foul of misinformation all the time. Make up your own mind by looking at both sides.”
Depp V Heard is refreshing because, finally, someone has attempted an unbiased edit of the trial.
Last summer, social media was inundated with pro-Depp rhetoric, and Heard was villainised, mocked and subject to rife misogyny. This series is a drop in the ocean compared to the onslaught of propaganda fans peddled, and the media bought into, but hopefully, it will make a few people sit up and take note. If you're camp #JusticeForJohnny, this series probably won't change that, but it might make you question why and the validity of the information served on your FYP.
The first episode notes that this trial was the first time live US courtroom footage showed a victim alleging sexual assault in full vision. Heard's legal team did not want the trial filmed, while Johnny's campaigned for it to be.
I'm left asking, after seeing the show, can justice ever be served when it's being played out so publicly? Can the jury really be unbiased when they weren't fully sequestered? Seeing a case that addresses abuse become memified and edited into TikTok clips is harrowing, and we must all be aware of our responsibility to ensure this doesn't become the norm.
The first episode of Depp Vs Heard premieres on Channel 4 today.
The redemption arc is underway.
