Nolte: Amber Heard Proves Hollywood Equity Is BS

There is no equity in Hollywood when Johnny Depp is unemployable, and Amber Heard is about to star in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Johnny Depp’s name, reputation, and career were all destroyed over allegations — nothing more than allegations — that he physically abused Heard during their volatile, three-year marriage.

In fact, Amber Heard has never come out and said Johnny Depp physically abused me. Depp is suing her over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed where she merely claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse. Not included in that op-ed (like most everything else in the Washington Post) were any facts, proof, specifics, details, or Depp’s name.

In other words, this whole thing stinks like libel by association, a way for Heard to suggest to the world Depp beat her up and claim the Holy Victim Mantle without any of the liability involved.

And so, Depp is suing Heard in a Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom for two reasons. The first is stated. Depp wants Heard to pay him damages of $50 million for making false and defamatory claims that destroyed his career. The second reason, the unstated reason, is that, win or lose, Depp wants everyone to hear his side of the story. The best way to do that is through a high-profile court case broadcast on Court TV.

So what have we learned so far? There are only two things that matter as far as I’m concerned: 1) the tip of Depp’s middle finger was severed during a domestic quarrel in March of 2015, and 2) Heard is on tape admitting to hitting Depp and ridiculing him for being upset over it…

***Language warning***

TW: Abuse Survivors.

Here's the audio where Amber Heard mocks Johnny Depp for calling for help while she was abusing him, she then loses her temper and fully admits to abusing him but proceeds to shame him again.

Typical abuser behavior. #TimesUp #JusticeForJohnnyDepp #MeToo pic.twitter.com/KJuit0LwbV

— Sienna (@winonasrider) January 31, 2020

Here’s the relevant transcript::

Johnny Depp: You fucking hit me last night. You fucking…

Amber Heard: What about all the other times you split? C’mon you cannot act like that’s about that.

JD: Well on a plane, I can’t split.

AH: No, and you hit back. So don’t act like you don’t fucking participate.

JD: I pushed you.

AH: I’m not going to get into the details of that fight. You and I both know that you split when there is no physical violence involved and that you do it… like at the very beginning of fights these days. And if you split and you go into a different room and you don’t actually leave that house, it does nothing but perpetuate the fight and you don’t actually do it respectfully.

[…]

JD: I’m not the one who throws pots and whatever the fucking else at me.

AH: That’s different. That’s different. One does not negate the other. That’s irrelevant. That’s a complete non sequitur. Just because I’ve thrown pots and pans does not mean you cannot come and knock on my door.

JD: Vases and fucking…

AH: Just because there are vases does not mean that you come and knock on the door.

JD: Really, I should just let you throw?

AH: No, I’m not saying that. You’re saying that. You’re putting words in my mouth.

JD: The only time I ever threw anything at you was when you fucking threw the cans at me in Australia.

[…]

AH: I didn’t punch you. I didn’t punch you, by the way.

JD: You punched me.

AH: I’m sorry that I didn’t, uh, uh, hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you’re not punched.

JD: Don’t tell me what it feels like to be punched!

AH: I know, you’ve been in a lot of fights, been around a long time. I know, I know. Yeah.

JD: No! When you have a fucking closed fist.

AH: You didn’t get punched. You got hit. I’m sorry I hit you like this. But I did not punch you. I did not fucking deck you. I fucking was hitting you.

JD: You can’t deck me.

AH: I don’t know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you’re fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you.

[…]

AH: That’s the difference between me and you, you’re a fucking baby.

JD: Because you start physical fights?

AH: You are such a baby! Grow the fuck up Johnny!

JD: Because you start physical fights?

AH: I did start a physical fight.

JD: Yeah, you did. So I had to get the fuck out of there.

AH: Yes, you did, so you did the right thing. The big thing, the, you know what? You are admirable. Every single time, what, what’s your excuse, when there’s not a physical fight, what’s your excuse then? You’re still being admirable, right, by running away? And you can sit here and call me names, but you get called a name and what do you do – ‘that’s the last insult!’ You’re a baby. You’re a hypocrite. You don’t do anything that you actually do. You expect from people what you can’t give them. If they do something a taste of it to you, you fucking lose it. But yet you dish it out.

[…]

AH: I can’t promise that it will all be perfect. I can’t promise you I won’t get physical again. God I fucking sometimes I get so mad I lose it. I can fucking promise you I will do everything to change. I promise you. I’m not going to throw around divorce I not say divorce unless I really mean it.

JD: I love you and I want you to be my wife. And I want to be your husband. And I wanna be a good husband. If I haven’t been, I’ll do everything I can to find out how to be a good husband.

I’m not here to defend Johnny Depp. This was obviously a dysfunctional marriage where two people engaged in all kinds of disturbing behavior.

My question is… Where’s the equity, Hollywood?

If you’re going to blacklist Johnny Depp over domestic abuse allegations, why isn’t Heard blacklisted for admitting on tape to all kinds of physically abusive behavior?

The tape might not be real. The tape might be selectively edited. He might have tricked her into admitting something she did not do… Fine, fine, fine… But all the evidence so far is much more damning against her. Granted, that could change as the trial marches on but based on WHAT WE KNOW, where’s the equal treatment?

Isn’t the fact that she allegedly defecated in his bed a tad image-shattering?

Why is an accused abuser allowed to star in a tentpole like Aquaman 2 while the other accused abuser is blacklisted?

We all know why. Because one is a woman and the other is a guy, and Hollywood equity is pure bullshit designed to destroy the careers of certain groups not given protected status — most especially men.

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.