Johnny Depp’s Trial against Amber Heard Became the Biggest News Event in the Country Because It’s the Perfect Storm of America’s Obsession with Celebrity
In a TikTok that started going viral last week, a man pantomimes telling his boss that he can't come into work the next day because he has jury duty. The video then cuts to the man with his face almost pressed against his laptop screen, watching intently to footage from the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial.
The TikTok exemplifies the intense public fascination with the defamation trial featuring a Hollywood legend and his once rising-star ex-wife, who have spent weeks trading shocking accusations of domestic abuse.
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Brett Ward, co-chair of the matrimonial and family law practice at Blank Rome, said the trial is like watching a real-life episode of “Law & Order”—except the actors are two of the biggest names in Hollywood. While the case may be over defamation, the bulk of the trial has focused on things that would fit better in a gossip rag.
“This trial is nothing to do with defamation. It’s people in a wealthy divorce airing their laundry in front of the world and hoping they come out looking better,” Ward said.
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“Johnny Depp’s Trial against Amber Heard Became the Biggest News Event in the Country Because It’s the Perfect Storm of America’s Obsession with Celebrity,” by Ashley Collman, was published in Insider on May 28, 2022.