Last week’s intermission in the Johnny Depp–Amber Read defamation situation, which will resume on Monday, temporarily stopped a deluge of disturbing testimony and slowed the PR war between the two the moment-married actors, but the parallel court docket of general public feeling has scarcely paused its deliberations on a scenario being eagerly followed all around the earth.

Section two of the Depp v Listened to circumstance in Fairfax, Virginia, will see Listened to conclude her testimony, and then arrive less than cross-evaluation by Depp’s authorized staff, ahead of her lawyers call witnesses like Hollywood star Ellen Barkin, who had a relationship with Depp in the 90s, and Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez.

But 4 months in, the phrases of the scenario have by now have been set. And it’s not one particular circumstance but two. In just one, Depp is boasting defamation for a 2018 Washington Article op-ed in which Listened to explained herself as a survivor of domestic abuse in the other, and probably far more valuable to the actor, is his energy to reclaim a track record and occupation that were badly ruined when Listened to took out a momentary restraining get from him in 2016. She is countersuing more than his claim that her allegations are a hoax.

“He was inclined to have all the unappealing, dim sides of him occur out. The specifics didn’t make him appear superior, and the community was not automatically mindful of them, in purchase to obvious his identify about the abuse,” explained Los Angeles-centered entertainment lawyer Mitra Ahouraian. “That to me is effective, due to the fact he’s trying to earn the court docket of community impression.”

But Listened to has also produced her defense much more sophisticated than it most likely required to be. “She had to create that she was a target of domestic violence but as a result of her testimony she has taken on a considerably bigger load by describing ongoing many episodes – not just domestic violence but sexual violence, vaginal searches, rape with a bottle,” explained Dr Jill Huntley Taylor at Taylor Trial Consulting.

The regular for defamation for community figures in the US is established substantial – Depp ought to demonstrate what was stated was untrue and that Listened to knew that it was untrue, or claimed with malice. But he could also get in the court of public view – in essence on social media, and with moviegoers – by losing.

“His declare could not be viable in the authorized method, but he’s undoubtedly profitable in the courtroom of community impression,” reported Ahouraian. “People are sharing clips they come across endearing and not having to pay as substantially attention to points that may perhaps not make him look excellent, or dismissing them as a typical response to an individual who is becoming an aggressor.”

But Heard has not finished her testimony, nor been positioned underneath cross-examination.

“This case is considerably from around, and a lot of pundits have put in this off-week drawing conclusions about Ms Heard’s testimony and talking about how Depp will probably lose in court,” observed Los Angeles attorney Allison Hope Weiner. “Even if he does not prevail in courtroom, the real problem is irrespective of whether the general public is keen to go see his flicks and the studios will reverse his cancellation.”

A examine of TikTok memes and sights suggests a very clear bias to Depp, even with the ex-spouses both proclaiming to be victims of personal associate violence, and Read aligning her encounter with the #MeToo movement.

“What’s coming out on social media, on Instagram and TikTok, is fairly abhorrent because these are really serious allegations of abuse coming from both sides,” said Alex McCready, head of popularity and privacy at Vardags regulation. At the identical time, McCready acknowledges, “the PR method all-around a situation can be as essential.”.

The TikTok tag #JusticeforJohnnyDepp has far more than 10bn views – far more than the tags #AmberHeard (8.4bn) and #JusticeforAmberHeard (37.2m). All through Heard’s 4 May possibly testimony, 587,285 people had been observing the Legislation & Crime livestream.

But the case is intricate for other good reasons: Depp’s lawsuit was permitted to carry on on the doctrine of defamation only by implication – Depp was not named in the Listened to ACLU-drafted report, nor did it restate any of the abuse allegations. Alternatively, Heard wrote that she “felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for gals who converse out”.

The doctrine retains that seemingly neutral and correct statements can nevertheless make a defamatory insinuation. The jury of 11 – with 7 who will be identified as on to deliberate, and 4 alternates – will be faced with teasing that out just after 27 Could, when closing arguments are presented.

But they might deal with other challenges too. All through jury selection, Deadline documented, a single likely juror explained that he’d texted his spouse that he may be termed.

“Amber is psychotic. If a person suggests a lady beat him, they never ever believe that him,” arrived a reply. Questioned by Heard’s lawyers if he could continue to be impartial, the male said that he could. “She tends to exaggerate.” Requested if his spouse would be indignant if he sided with Depp, he said: “She gets mad at me all the time.”

It sounds weird. But then the whole scenario has often felt an exercise in extreme.