In 2018, Johnny Depp was at the top of his game, a place he had been for years. He was still working closely with Disney on the hit Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He was also starring as Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter spin-off franchise, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Not only that, but he was the face of Dior Cologne and was one of the stars of the hit film, Murder on the Orient Express. Each year, Depp was starring in multiple films, and showed no signs of slowing down.
Then an OpEd was published in The Washington Post, and Depp’s career came crumbling down.
The OpEd was written by Depp’s ex-wife, Aquaman actress Amber Heard. In the article — which was mainly written by the ACLU and approved by Heard — Heard said that she was the victim of domestic violence. She never said that Depp abused her, but did say that she had suffered from domestic abuse during the years that she was married to Depp.
The backlash against Depp was swift and extreme. Disney dropped him from the next Pirates film, reportedly costing him an estimated $22 million. He was also replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. No one wanted to work with the embattled actor, and his career came to a standstill. However, he denied the charges and ended up suing Amber Heard for $50 million in defamation. Heard countersued for an astonishing $100 million.
The trial took place in a Virginia courtroom and lasted for six weeks. It was full of tears, regrets, and marital recordings, where Heard admitted to abusing Depp and Depp was clearly under the influence of some substance. More than 500 million people watched the trial, and now, there will be a new deep dive into what went on before, during, and after, giving a look that few have seen.
Netflix has been hard at work making a documentary about the explosive trial — and it will be released on the streamer on August 16. Now, Netflix has released more information on what viewers can expect:
Depp v. Heard, the new limited series from director Emma Cooper, covers the trial with the goal of presenting a neutral overview of what happens when the court of public opinion starts to overshadow reality. For the first time, the three-part series presents Depp and Heard’s testimony side-by-side, using 200 hours of live-streamed trial coverage from the mainstream news and citizen commentators on TikTok and Twitter. Ultimately, Depp v. Heard interrogates the role social media played in the trial, raising provocative, uncomfortable questions about how the conversations happening outside the courtroom may have influenced the outcome.
In the end, the jury determined that Depp and Heard had defamed each other, but Heard was more in the wrong. Heard was awarded just $2 million, while Depp was awarded more than $10. However, Depp revealed that he agreed to settle with Heard for just $1 million. Depp has since worked on revamping his acting career, while Heard has settled into a quiet life in Spain.
