According to analysts, Johnny Depp is gaining more support and coming out on top in the court of public opinion, which might be more crucial than whether he wins his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard.
“I think [Johnny Depp] has won based on his notion of victory when he went off the stand,” Texas civil attorney Katherine Lizardo said.
“Because he had already won the court of public opinion… once he shared his narrative.”
During the second week of the trial in Fairfax, Virginia, the Pirates of the Caribbean testified for four days — and then again for more than three hours on Wednesday. The 58-year-old has publicly stated his case, and legal and public relations experts told The Washington Post that a jury verdict in his favour isn’t as important.
“I think winning the legal side of the defamation action doesn’t matter to Johnny Depp,” Lizardo told The Post. “Winning would be frosting on the cake for him because the major reason he filed the defamation action was to clean his name and appeal to the court of public opinion.”
“Right now, I believe it is unarguable that the court of public opinion favours him, has heard him, and is now backing him.” “Whether he wins or loses, I don’t think it matters to him or the court of public opinion,” Lizardo added.
According to Mitra Ahouraian, a California entertainment lawyer, the action isn’t really about winning a defamation claim, but about cleaning Depp’s name in the public domain, as he has said.
“This litigation is about leveraging the courts to present his side of the story, clarifying the record, and shaping the court of public opinion,” Ahouraian explained.
“It’s more significant than the litigation itself,” Ahouraian stated. “Winning the case would certainly assist because it would demonstrate that anything false was stated about him, which is a major matter.”
Depp’s legal team made certain to address Heard’s charges against him square on, providing his take on what occurred.
“He went into this expecting that everything would come out,” Ahouraian added. “‘Fine, I take drugs, and I’ve struggled with addiction since I was a kid, but I’m not a wife beater.’ And that is all he is attempting to express.”
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