February 17, 2024

Johnny Depp's Bromance with Jamal Khashoggi's Murderer Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

VANITY FAIR: ...Both men knew how it felt to suddenly go from golden boy to outcast. Depp’s stock had taken a hit after his ex-wife Amber Heard accused him of abuse. In two high-profile court cases, Depp contested those claims, which he has always denied. As Depp and Heard wrangled in court in the second case, a cascade of unflattering personal details hit the press and social media. The ugly spectacle, and the troll war it sparked, damaged Depp’s reputation in some circles.

For MBS, it was the horrific murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi state operatives in 2018 that sent shudders around the world, irrevocably tainting the crown prince’s carefully cultivated image as a brilliant young reformer...

DAILY MAIL: There is talk that he may be appointed an ‘ambassador’ for the kingdom, with a seven-figure salary to promote its cultural renaissance... already it has triggered ugly reactions online, where the fallen star has been accused of so-called ‘arts-washing’ — the dubious -practice of using the arts to wash clean a country’s unethical reputation, in this case by inviting A-listers to glamorous events to distract from the Saudi regime’s unsavoury attitudes to women, homosexuality and minorities.

But Depp’s ‘signing’ as a Saudi cheerleader is of a different magnitude. ‘I guess pieces of s*** go hand in hand together, especially when one is broke and the other has all the money in the world. Rot in hell,’ was one of the milder comments posted about the news this week.

X/Twitter: "I would like for Mr Depp to learn the truth about my husband and what he wanted for his country Saudi Arabia. Jamal wanted what was best for the Saudi people.” ~ Mrs Hanan Elatr Khashoggiحنان العتر خاشقجى, widowed wife of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

ANNENBERG SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: In their new book, Dean Sarah Banet-Weiser and former postdoctoral fellow Kathryn Claire Higgins explore the work victims of sexual violence go through to be believed.

In the spring of 2022, Johnny Depp alleged that his ex-wife Amber Heard defamed him by calling herself a “public figure representing domestic abuse” in a Washington Post op-ed. The trial that followed became a public spectacle — live streamed, memed, and meticulously picked apart on TikTok and YouTube.

The #MeToo movement had gone viral five years prior and the world was deep in the “post-truth” era. As the trial proceeded, Heard’s every action was scrutinized and used as evidence as to whether or not #BelieveWomen applied to her. While watching the trial, feminist scholars Sarah Banet-Weiser and Kathryn Claire Higgins were struck by the public’s demand for Amber Heard to be the “perfect victim.” She had to have the “right” tone of voice, the “right” emotions.

"People who were trying to discredit Amber Heard were not actually trying to discredit her testimony of abuse necessarily[...] It was about positioning her as someone who wasn't deserving of public sympathy.”

(Disclaimer: I was an advisor to Ms. Heard's online PR team and one of the first to expose the coordinated troll and bot attack on her.)