Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez is facing criticism after claiming her client couldn’t have harmed Amber Heard when he was “too drunk and high” to stand up.
Depp’s attorney won many fans during the 2022 defamation trial between former married couple Depp and Heard, but public support for her seems to be waning, especially in light of comments she made in the Discovery+ documentary Johnny vs Amber: The U.S. Trial. The two-part documentary series is available to watch now.
Depp and Heard’s trial was a media sensation from April until June 2022. Depp ultimately won the case against Heard, after she had written a 2018 op-ed stating she was the survivor of domestic abuse. Depp won on three counts of defamation, while Heard won on one. Both sides are appealing the verdicts, with Heard recruiting a new legal team to represent her.
Ahead of the appellate court case, the new Discovery+ documentary has pealed back the curtain behind Depp’s legal team’s tactics. Vasquez and Benjamin Chew feature prominently in the new show, as tactical discussions between the two are shown. One statement by Vasquez seems to have caused offense to many online as her comments have been discussed across social media.
“That’s one part of the case I’ve never understood,” Vasquez begins, discussing Heard’s testimony regarding Depp’s behaviour. “He’s either drunk and high and incapable of even standing up, or he’s drunk and high and able to attack her, chase her, land blows? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Her comments were criticized in a Reddit thread by many users. “What an incredibly stupid argument,” wrote @Its_Alive_74.” It’s very common for people who are drunk or high to assault others.” They added: “If she actually thinks this, I would wonder how someone like her was capable of graduating law school.”
“So I guess everyone who has been abused by drunks is lying,” @catinobsloeteshower wrote. “Great job Camille, always keeping it up with the victim blaming as you do.” Many of the conversations throughout the Reddit thread accuse Vasquez and Depp’s legal team of victim-blaming throughout the trial.
eard fan accounts also picked up on the comments on Twitter, with @iBelieveYouA saying: “Imagine being this ignorant. She’s clearly been blessed with never being around an addict. This statement is beyond ridiculous.”
@MatthewsLillith called Vasquez’s comments “absolutely silly,” while @cocainecross said: “I genuinely loathe Camille Vasquez because of how all her defenses surrounding [domestic violence] and [intimate partner violence] stem from stereotypes and victim blaming tropes. Nobody would be taking her seriously if her target wasn’t Amber, she is genuinely bad at her job.”
“Genuinely can’t believe Camille Vasquez basically said ‘how can you be abused if the abuser is an off balance alcoholic,'” wrote the anti-Depp account @baddepptakes. Twitter user @Gingerdreaming1 defended Vasquez’s comments. “She never said addicts can’t be abusive but they’d need to be awake to do so. AH showed a lot of evidence he was passed out during all of her accusations thus her statement,” they said. (Newsweek)