24-07-2025
Amber Heard Returns To Acting: Opinion
Last month, social media user @LeaveHeardAlone collected fan messages and money for flowers to send to Amber Heard. Around 350 people wound up sending messages.
The flowers were a gift for Heard to celebrate the opening of the new play Spirit of the People by Slave Play writer Jeremy O. Harris at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. It's her first major acting role since the 2022 Depp v. Heard trial, and a rare spot of good news.
Lest you need a refresher, Heard was found guilty by a jury of defaming her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in an op-ed titled 'I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change." In it, she doesn't mention Depp by name, but she refers to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse."
This was despite a judge in the UK ruling two years earlier that a tabloid calling Depp a "wife beater" was "substantially true," adding, "I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard.'
There's been ample speculation about the difference in outcomes in the trials, including that jury members were not sequestered and were allowed to keep their phones, while social media raged against Heard. One juror was even texted by his wife, "Amber is psychotic." It was later found that much of the anti-Heard sentiment online was driven by bots.
It was, plainly, a shit time to be a victim of sexual violence with an internet connection, as I am. It still is, given how other men are attempting to use the Depp playbook in court and public opinion. But watching the trial play out as a form of perverse entertainment in real-time felt like a nightmare, seeing friends and family members parrot myths about survivors that they'd unwittingly not realize also applied to me.
It seemed like Heard would likely stay in Madrid for some time after the trial, out of the public eye, and who could blame her? But, with Spirit of the People, she's slowly making a return. Photos of her are in Vogue. She's posting on Instagram more frequently.
It's hard for me not to see these images and feel a glimmer of hope. To feel inspired by her resilience. Yes, I know that photos aren't a real snapshot of someone's life. But, at the same time, I know I'm not the only one to feel this way. When comments are open, they are remarkably positive. Maybe the bots are gone, or maybe there's been a genuine shift in public opinion, I can't say. Maybe I can exhale, just a little.
We've been told endlessly about how accusations ruin men's lives, but the comeback playbook for men accused of wrongdoing feels well-trodden at this point. Depp's out there ranting about #MeToo and conveniently filming his new movie Day Drinker with Penélope Cruz in Madrid. In my opinion, it was Amber whose acting career was ruined simply by being a victim. Against all that darkness, it may not be over yet.
I probably won't write another article like this again. I know that mentioning someone's worst moments at every single turn grows into its own kind of cage. Perhaps Depp's most devout fans will be activated like sleeper agents to this piece. It'll be bad another day. But, on July 20, Amber got her flowers. She appeared visibly emotional in her Instagram story as she said, "Thank you so much for these beautiful flowers, I feel like the luckiest woman in the world."
