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>The heart of Depp’s claim is that Heard ruined his acting career when she published a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure

>The heart of Depp’s claim is that Heard ruined his acting career when she published a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”—a thinly veiled reference to much-publicized accusations of assault she made against Depp in court filings toward the end of their short-lived marriage. But Heard hadn’t pitched the idea to the Post—the ACLU had. Terence Dougherty, the organization’s general counsel, testified via video deposition that the ACLU had spearheaded the effort and served as Heard’s ghostwriter in exchange for her promise to donate $3.5 million to the organization. The promised donation also bought Heard the title of ACLU “ambassador on women’s rights with a focus on gender-based violence.” When Heard failed to pay up, Doughtery said, the ACLU collected $100,000 from Depp himself, and another $500,000 from a fund connected to Elon Musk, whom Heard dated after the divorce. I have not been paying much attention to this case (I actually thought it was just a messy divorce case), but man, fuck the ACLU. How is anyone supposed to take any of this seriously anymore? She didn't even write the piece herself? How was the ACLU able to "collect" money from both Johnny Depp and Elon Musk?? What a disgrace the ACLU has become, and unfortunately I think most people still see them as the freedom-fighters they used to be.

sumnuyungi 4y ago
The article's phrasing is a mischaracterization: Depp and Musk made donations on behalf of Heard, the ACLU didn't go after them to "collect".
- _ktx2 4y ago
  > When Heard failed to pay up, Doughtery said, the ACLU collected $100,000 from Depp himself, and another $500,000 from a fund connected to Elon Musk, whom Heard dated after the divorce. It doesn't really specify what the ACLU said or did to get that money. I'm curious what those methods were and if Depp (or Musk) were aware of the ACLU's involvement or the pay to play relationship between Heard and the ACLU.
  - zmgsabst 4y ago
    In Depp’s case, he paid the first $100,000 of the $7M divorce settlement directly to the ACLU — and she flipped out and demanded the money go to her, rather than directly to the charities she pledged it to: the ACLU and a children’s hospital. Heard never donated the balance of her divorce settlement she publicly pledged.
- colpabar 4y ago
  Ah, okay, thanks for the clarification! That actually makes it kind of funny. I guess there's the possibility of some kind of blackmail, but I don't think musk would let himself be blackmailed quietly. But still, it doesn't seem like the ACLU should be involved in this.
  - zmgsabst 4y ago
    The ACLU was trying to cash in on #metoo (which was timely, when this was published) — and published Heard’s defamation of Depp, apparently ignoring the numerous flags everyone else could see that Heard was the one abusing Depp. But during the height of #metoo, we weren’t “allowed” to ask those questions because we needed to “believe all women”. Institutional misandry strikes again.
    - tallytarik 4y ago
      > Heard was the one abusing Depp This seems to imply that Depp did not abuse Heard, which was not the view of the judge in the UK defamation trial (he ruled that 12 out of 14 incidents of abuse perpetrated by Depp had been proven to a civil standard). It looks like Heard also abused Depp on at least a few occasions. But there seems to be this online sentiment at the moment that Heard is a compulsive liar and that she did not suffer abuse at all. There seems to be clear public evidence to the contrary.
      - zmgsabst 4y ago
        > There seems to be clear public evidence to the contrary. I would encourage you to examine the evidence. Heard’s claims weren’t critically examined in the UK — who took her statements at face value while discounting both physical evidence and testimony of others. By contrast in Virginia, where Heard is the subject of forensic analysis, both forensic psychologists have stated that Heard abused Depp — while there has been zero evidence (except Heard’s wild claims) to support that Depp ever acted similarly. There is only evidence that Heard abused Depp. A lawyer on YouTube has been streaming the Virginia trial and posting daily recaps, LegalBytes. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbQVtXJ42xmgG9Q7cJI-F6lU4G9aEBMIi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbQVtXJ42xmgG9Q7cJI-F...
- wdb 4y ago
  It's a mess. Looks like that Miss Heard promised $3.5m to ACLU and $3.5 to a children hospital but didn't pay anything to the hospital and only donated like $350k herself to the ACLU. It's pretty wild when Miss Heard told on public television that she donated the full $7m to both parties (in 2018). You wonder what else she is lying about.
  - maccolgan 4y ago
    Three and a half dollars?
    - wdb 4y ago
      Sorry, I meant $3.5m for the hospital. The amount that Amber received was $7m tax free that would be split between the two, $500k for attorney fees, and ~$14m communal labilities to be paid by Depp. $7m + ~$14m + $500k + taxes is quite a lot for a 15 month long marriage

sumnuyungi 4y ago

The article's phrasing is a mischaracterization: Depp and Musk made donations on behalf of Heard, the ACLU didn't go after them to "collect".

_ktx2 4y ago
> When Heard failed to pay up, Doughtery said, the ACLU collected $100,000 from Depp himself, and another $500,000 from a fund connected to Elon Musk, whom Heard dated after the divorce. It doesn't really specify what the ACLU said or did to get that money. I'm curious what those methods were and if Depp (or Musk) were aware of the ACLU's involvement or the pay to play relationship between Heard and the ACLU.
- zmgsabst 4y ago
  In Depp’s case, he paid the first $100,000 of the $7M divorce settlement directly to the ACLU — and she flipped out and demanded the money go to her, rather than directly to the charities she pledged it to: the ACLU and a children’s hospital. Heard never donated the balance of her divorce settlement she publicly pledged.
colpabar 4y ago
Ah, okay, thanks for the clarification! That actually makes it kind of funny. I guess there's the possibility of some kind of blackmail, but I don't think musk would let himself be blackmailed quietly. But still, it doesn't seem like the ACLU should be involved in this.
- zmgsabst 4y ago
  The ACLU was trying to cash in on #metoo (which was timely, when this was published) — and published Heard’s defamation of Depp, apparently ignoring the numerous flags everyone else could see that Heard was the one abusing Depp. But during the height of #metoo, we weren’t “allowed” to ask those questions because we needed to “believe all women”. Institutional misandry strikes again.
  - tallytarik 4y ago
    > Heard was the one abusing Depp This seems to imply that Depp did not abuse Heard, which was not the view of the judge in the UK defamation trial (he ruled that 12 out of 14 incidents of abuse perpetrated by Depp had been proven to a civil standard). It looks like Heard also abused Depp on at least a few occasions. But there seems to be this online sentiment at the moment that Heard is a compulsive liar and that she did not suffer abuse at all. There seems to be clear public evidence to the contrary.
    - zmgsabst 4y ago
      > There seems to be clear public evidence to the contrary. I would encourage you to examine the evidence. Heard’s claims weren’t critically examined in the UK — who took her statements at face value while discounting both physical evidence and testimony of others. By contrast in Virginia, where Heard is the subject of forensic analysis, both forensic psychologists have stated that Heard abused Depp — while there has been zero evidence (except Heard’s wild claims) to support that Depp ever acted similarly. There is only evidence that Heard abused Depp. A lawyer on YouTube has been streaming the Virginia trial and posting daily recaps, LegalBytes. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbQVtXJ42xmgG9Q7cJI-F6lU4G9aEBMIi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbQVtXJ42xmgG9Q7cJI-F...
wdb 4y ago
It's a mess. Looks like that Miss Heard promised $3.5m to ACLU and $3.5 to a children hospital but didn't pay anything to the hospital and only donated like $350k herself to the ACLU. It's pretty wild when Miss Heard told on public television that she donated the full $7m to both parties (in 2018). You wonder what else she is lying about.
- maccolgan 4y ago
  Three and a half dollars?
  - wdb 4y ago
    Sorry, I meant $3.5m for the hospital. The amount that Amber received was $7m tax free that would be split between the two, $500k for attorney fees, and ~$14m communal labilities to be paid by Depp. $7m + ~$14m + $500k + taxes is quite a lot for a 15 month long marriage