CW: Domestic violence, lots of f-words

I haven't been paying attention to the Johnny Depp trial because... I don' t know. It was just one more thing that seemed terrible. Today I watched like 5 minutes of her testimony, and I am so angry I could punch a hole in a wall.

Fuck Johnny Depp.

Fuck him for his abusive behavior, for the gaslighting he's done/doing, for his smug-ass face and chuckles and all of it. For making a mockery of everything. Fuck him for paying people to make her life hell. As if by the mere fact of his suing her, he's not proving that once again being a rich white man is all you need. This isn't about his reputation being sullied.

Fuck him for showing countless abusive assholes out there that even in 2022, all you need to do is call your victim crazy and point your finger, and make yourself the victim. For showing survivors who haven't escaped that they will never be able to. I've been an advocate, sat in the emergency room with someone whose abusive husband did the same. She wasn't restrained, but she sure as fuck knew those restraints were there and she looked me in the eyes and said she'd never call the police on him again.

Fuck him for the emotional trauma he's causing to thousands upon thousands of abuse victims watching what happens when you speak out, even if you're Amber Heard. Watching her flinch on the stand as they make her relive moments through recordings - after having been damaged by severe emotional abuse and neglect and trying to heal for years, I can't imagine if someone had recordings of the abuse and then forced me to listen to them.

Fuck him for reinforcing the idea that Amber Heard is "no prize either" or that she was "also terrible." Are you kidding? If anyone judged me based on the conversations I had with my closest friends when I was in the midst of an abusive marriage, what would they have thought? My ex told people I had an anger problem, but the thing is I was only angry AT HIM. Because he was abusing me. But people who he had manipulated? They believed him.

Johnny Depp is a terrible person. This trial is showing his character more than any op-ed ever could. I'm so tired of living in this misogynistic patriarchy. I'm SO TIRED of powerful men not only not having consequences, but just steamrolling the lives of women for fun. I'm just. so. tired.