The Times - UK (2022-05-28)

the times | Saturday May 28 2022 19

News

Her face crumpled in anguish, Amber
Heard sobbed as she described relent-
less online attacks during her court bat-
tle against Johnny Depp. “I am har-
assed, humiliated, threatened every
single day,” the actress said. “People
want to kill me, and tell me every day.”
Heard, 36, said some had even said
they wanted to put her year-old daugh-
ter in a microwave. “I am a human
being,” she told the jury in Fairfax,
Virginia, adding that the online mock-
ery of her testimony was “agonising”.
The ordeal for both sides is almost
over. After seven weeks the jury of
seven has retired to consider its verdict
on one of the most acrimonious
disputes in Hollywood history.
Depp, 58, sued Heard for defamation
over a 2018 article in The Washington
Post in which his former wife described
herself as “a public figure representing
domestic abuse”. His lawyers say his
reputation was damaged even though
the article never mentioned his name.
Heard filed a $100 million counter-
claim against Depp after his lawyer
called her allegations a hoax. Since the
trial began last month, social media
attacks on Heard have intensified.
On TikTok, hashtags critical of
Heard have drawn billions of views.
Edited videos that show her in a bad
light flood the app. Some claim to prove
she has been faking her distress in
court; others celebrate the times Depp’s
lawyers challenge her allegations.
Social media has also been used to
collect support for a petition to have
Heard fired from the Aquaman sequel.
It has almost 4.5 million signatures.

Cyabra, an Israeli company that

analyses online conversations and

monitors disinformation, said an

assessment early in the trial found

almost 11 per cent of the Twitter

accounts discussing the case were fake.

That is a strikingly high number,

according to Rafi Mendelsohn,

Cyabra’s vice-president of marketing.

“What we generally see is roughly

around 3 to 5 per cent around the aver-

age topic are inauthentic accounts. So

when we see something that’s 11 per

cent, that takes it to a whole other level.

It’s more akin to some of the analysis

that we’ve done around elections.”

The social media activity surround-

ing the trial has ebbed and flowed de-

pending on who is in the witness box.

When the model Kate Moss appeared

to support Depp this week, negative

sentiment towards Heard increased by

Heard facing daily death

threats in trial by TikTok

40 per cent and positive reaction

towards Depp increased by 50 per cent.

There are double the number of pro-

files taking part in pro-Depp or anti-

Heard conversations compared with

anti-Depp or pro-Heard discussions.

Depp’s fan base has also turned its

attention to Camille Vasquez, his law-

yer who experienced a boom in online

popularity afterwards, Cyabra said.

Aquaman, one of Heard’s biggest film

roles, has featured throughout the trial,

with claims that Depp helped her to win

the part. On Twitter, negative senti-

ment about the film increased by 17 per

cent from May 23 to May 24 after the

trial was told how important it was to

Heard’s career.

During closing arguments yesterday,

the rival legal teams offered wildly

different versions of the events sur-

rounding the doomed relationship.

Vasquez, representing Depp, said

Heard “ruined his life by falsely telling

the world that she was a survivor of

domestic abuse. We ask you to give Mr

Depp his life back by telling the world

that Mr Depp is not the abuser Ms

Heard said he is, and hold Ms Heard ac-

countable for her lies,” she said.

Benjamin Rottenborn, representing

Heard, said Depp was trying to use the

jury as an “accomplice” in ruining

Heard’s life. He said that if Heard was

abused once then she should win.

He also returned to “vile” texts Depp

wrote about burning Heard and abus-

ing her corpse. “These words are a

window into the heart and mind of

America’s favourite pirate,” Rottenborn

said, referring to the actor’s role in the

Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

“This is the real Johnny Depp.”

Keiran Southern Los Angeles

The producers of Kevin Spacey’s

comeback film have rallied around the

embattled actor after confirmation

that he faces sexual assault charges re-

lating to three alleged victims.

The two-time Oscar winner’s efforts

to return to acting after allegations of

sexual impropriety first surfaced in

2017 began with a screening at a hotel

in Cannes during the annual film festi-

val.

Spacey, 62, below, is accused of four

charges of sexual assault on

three men in the UK

between 2005 and 2013.

The producers of his

new film — a “noir

drama” called Peter

Five Eight with the

tagline “the guilty

always pay the price”

— stressed he had

not been convicted of

any offences as their

effort to sell distribu-

tion rights at Cannes con-

tinued. In a statement, VMI

Worldwide said: “While it’s un-

fortunate that increased negative press

is timed with Kevin returning to work,

it’s also to be expected.

“There are those who wish for him

not to act, but they are outnumbered by

fans worldwide who await an artist they

have enjoyed for decades returning to

the screen. The production has no

knowledge or comment on the various

swirling allegations and believe it’s a

matter for the courts to determine

validity if it exists. Peter Five Eight is a

film for fans who care more for the art

than the scandal.”

The trailer for the film, Spacey’s first

in five years, was released last week to a

Makers of new Spacey

film stand by their man

John Simpson Crime Correspondent mixed critical reception.

Spacey, an American, was artistic

director of the Old Vic from 2004 to

2015. He stepped down from the role
      years before the complainants came
      forward. The theatre said yesterday
      that it could not comment on “ongoing
      criminal proceedings”.
      He is accused of sexually assaulting
      three men in alleged incidents in
      London and Gloucestershire. He will
      also be charged with a fifth offence of
      causing one man to “engage in penetra-
      tive sexual activity without consent”.
      The actor faces being
      charged when he next
      returns to the UK, either
      voluntarily or after ex-
      tradition proceedings.
      The Home Office
      and the Metro-
      politan Police said
      that they would not
      comment on whe-
      ther such proceed-
      ings had been initiated
      in this case and repre-
      sentatives of Spacey did
      not reply when asked
      whether he would return of his
      own volition.
      Spacey was one of the most success-
      ful actors of his generation — having
      won the 1996 best supporting actor
      Oscar for The Usual Suspects and the
      2000 best actor Oscar for American
      Beauty — when he was accused of
      sexual misconduct in 2017. He was
      dropped from his lead role in Netflix’s
      political thriller House of Cards and ed-
      ited out of Sir Ridley Scott’s kidnapping
      drama All the Money in the World, to be
      replaced by Christopher Plummer.
      Spacey, who came out as gay after the
      allegations emerged, has always denied
      any sexual impropriety.

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Johnny Depp supporters held a rally

outside the court in Fairfax yesterday

Protesters

put 24-hour

guard on tree

Campaigners trying to stop a
100-year-old tree from being chopped
down are guarding it day and night.
The tree in Stroud Green, north
London, has been condemned because
the local council says it would be liable
for £400,000 in insurance claims if it
grew further and undermined homes.
Haringey Tree Protectors work in
two-hour shifts with some sleeping in a
hammock in the branches at night.
They are demanding a meeting with
the council and say about 200 other
trees are also at risk of being felled.
Giovanna Iozzi, one of the campaign-
ers, said: “Ninety-nine per cent of the
houses’ owners are supportive, includ-
ing in the houses that are supposed to
be affected by it. They completely un-
derstand what we are trying to do.”
Mike Hakata, deputy leader of Har-
ingey council and cabinet member for
climate action, environment and trans-
port, said he did not want to see the
trees removed “but the technical evi-
dence we have received supports the re-
quirement for this tree to be removed,
as it is causing significant damage to the
residents’ homes.
“If the tree remains and these adjoin-
ing homes are underpinned, we will be
facing a high-value insurance claim in
excess of £400,000.
“This is simply beyond our budgetary
control and would have significant
impact on other key service areas,”
Really wild ride There was a a roaring start to Mardi Grrra at Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey, with the staff taking over the rides at the new attraction he said.

BEN STEVENS