The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial has been dominating headlines, social media, and student conversations for the last several weeks. Depp and Heard first met in 2009 while shooting a film and got together in 2012. They married in Feb. 2015,  but were later divorced in Jan. 2017. Never would anyone think that this two-year-long marriage would so significantly impact social media. 

   Since their divorce, Heard came out with allegations against Depp, stating that he attacked her while getting on a train in Asia not long after their wedding.

   “He was squeezing my neck against the railway car for what felt like a very long time,” Heard said in the allegation.

   After these allegations spread through the industry, Depp was removed from filming “The Fantastic Beast 3” and was later asked to resign. It’s said that he only filmed one scene of the movie, while his character was supposed to be the main villain in the movie. Heard was also later cut out of her upcoming movie “Aquaman 2” because of all the court drama that ensued. 

   Depp ended up suing Heard for $50 million dollars on three counts of defamation and wanted Heard to pay for all attorney fees and court costs. 

   Heard then counter-sued Depp for $100 million in damages, claiming that Depp’s legal team has ruined her image with false allegations of domestic abuse. 

   Social media influencers and celebrities have been seen talking about their trial on many different social media apps, one of the bigger ones being TikTok. It has been turned into one of the biggest court cases in recent memory, as many content creators post and analyze the trial videos on their pages. As the trial continued, many more TikTok videos circulated to teenagers. 

   For some, this case puts a new spotlight on abuse cases. 

   According to The 19th, a news organization that reports on gender-related politics and policy, “Experts say that the amount of attention on this trial is offering abusers a look at a whole new way of potentially exerting power over a survivor.” 

   As many individuals claim that Heard’s stories are not adding up, experts fear that this may offer the public a false perception of domestic abuse and those who attempt to press charges against their abusers. 

  The trial finished June 1, 2022, with Depp winning more than 10 million dollars over the defamation charges, and Heard winning 2 million dollars.