Johnny Depp believes abuse allegations towards him have been a trial run for the #MeToo motion.
Calling the fallout from his 2016 divorce with Amber Heard a warmup for the cultural reckoning round misogyny and rape tradition, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star informed the Sunday Occasions he was “a crash test dummy.”
“I was pre #MeToo,” he stated. “I was like a crash test dummy for #MeToo.”
The comparability got here as Depp complained about those that did him “dirty” and refused to publicly help him following Heard’s home abuse accusations.
The “Aquaman” actor first accused Depp of being “verbally and physically abusive” in a Might 2016 restraining order request filed only one week after she initiated divorce proceedings.
The #MeToo motion would take maintain over a yr later, sparked by revelations about movie producer Harvey Weinstein’s historical past of sexual abuse and coercion.
Daniele Venturelli by way of Getty Photographs
Through the midst of #MeToo, the dispute between Depp and Heard escalated into an intense authorized battle over whether or not she had defamed her ex by describing herself as a home abuse survivor in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Put up.
When the case went to trial in 2022, Heard was discovered liable of three counts of defamation and ordered to pay the “Edward Scissorhands” actor hundreds of thousands in damages.
Although Depp was additionally discovered answerable for one of many three defamation claims included in Heard’s countersuit, the jury’s determination largely vindicated him within the courtroom of public opinion.
Now over three years out from the trial, the “Cry Baby” star says he has “no regrets” about what occurred within the wake of his breakup from Heard.
“I know who I am, what that was and, look, it was a learning experience,” he informed the Sunday Occasions.
