Survivors of Domestic Violence Have a Platform Now to Tell Their Story - Get Up & Fight

Upon reviewing closing arguments of both Johnny Depp's attorneys, and Amber Heard's attorneys some things have became very clear. What was the original issue? Defamation. Amber Heard published an article, with no proof to back up what she put in the article, but did not specifically state Johnny Depp's name, thus her counsel purposely tried to intimidate the jury into siding with them by throwing out Freedom of Speech. Individuals assumed, and other publications picked up the piece and took off flying with the information. However, it is believed that Heard published false information in a last attempt effort to further abuse her victim. The evidence documented shows how drastically Depp was abused over the course of their marriage. Thus, even though the case is not about Domestic Violence charges specifically... it does show malice - proving an abuse of Freedom of Speech, and defamation.

Given Heard's testimony, and the voice recording stating, "Go tell the world Johnny, tell the world I, Johnny Depp, a man, am a victim of Domestic Violence," specifically proves that Depp is a victim of psychological abuse if nothing else, and thus Heard "speaking up" can be argued as intentional to ruin his career - thus, malice. But other publications picking up her op-ed and republishing it, was not her doing (necessarily). She did however leak information to other places, such as TMZ.

So, what did we just witness then? We witnessed Johnny Depp, a survivor of Domestic Violence, taking back his voice. This will hopefully encourage more survivors of abuse to come forward about their abuse. Not only men, but women as well. All survivors are survivors, and deserve to have their story told. This case however, lies in the fact of whether the op-ed was maliciously wrote. If it was not then Freedom of Speech is applied, but if it was malicious then Depp wins for Defamation. There is no question about the lies Heard has told while under oath, and her constant mocking, but the op-ed did not have Depp's name - that's the argument the defense keeps arguing. However, we all know that it did not need to have his name, because as a public figure and celebrity people will make obvious assumptions based on who she had been married to. The op-ed was also originally wrote with Depp's initials in it, which were testified to being edited out of the piece.

In an effort to take back Depp's voice, he would also have a fight against all of the individuals who adopted the op-ed and took action against him for it. Those companies, and individuals would be held accountable for taking retaliatory actions against him resulting in him losing money, and affecting his career before reviewing all of the evidence in the matter.

We have all enjoyed watching this case play out, and picking apart each individuals testimony and finding all of the lies from Amber Heard. This case should be a huge motivator for individuals who have experienced abuse. You have a voice, and people want to listen. While it can be scary, and your abuser will put on a smear campaign to try and tarnish your name... YOU HAVE A VOICE.

Speaking up against your abuser is in itself terrifying for individuals who have truly been victims of abuse, whether that is physical, psychological, and/or sexual. The amount of courage it takes an individual to speak up, is astronomical, it is not done willy-nilly or without much thought and meditation/prayer on the subject. Anyone who speaks up should be given a proper platform to tell their story. Depp created exactly that, a platform for himself and future survivors to reclaim justice, and hired a great team of individuals who solidly held their ground in the courtroom for 6 tiring weeks.

Amber Heard's claims, and lies have made survivors enraged for portraying herself as a victim because now when future women survivors speak up, we will potentially receive a lack of belief. However, men have now gained a platform to speak their truth, and I am all for that. I am glad that men can now stand up, but pissed off because Amber Heard has now made it harder for women.

I have built myself around speaking up for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault survivors, because I am tired of holding it in - I am tired of not talking about it and watching it occur time and time again. So, I am taking a different approach to hopefully stop it from occurring again. The saying goes, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results." Me staying quiet, holding it all in, healing internally, not sharing with anyone, and expecting a different result, is not working. We are survivors, that is what we are, that is what we do - we survive the best way we know how to.

I am only 1 out of millions of survivors, and I am just as pissed off as the rest of the survivors I have spoken to as of late. Some individuals are afraid to speak their truth now due to fear of not being believed due to Heard's lies, and nearly all individuals want to see some accountability done against Amber Heard. I believe that the Defense counsel purposely threw out the Freedom of Speech clause, in an effort to scare or intimidate the jury into siding with them. Heard's team has done many things over the course of the last 6 weeks to confuse the issue, and draw attention away from Heard's actions but it has only brought to light the drastic realization of the abuse Depp experienced.

The jury has their hands full, and the answer is right in front of them. While Heard has lied, multiple times, are they going to side with a known abuser? Or are they going to give justice to a survivor of Domestic Violence?

#standupandfight #getupandfight