Depp vs Heard, Channel 4, review: how a Hollywood court case became a social media circus

Televised trials have always attracted a keen audience. Think back to OJ Simpson or the nanny Louise Woodward. But those were the olden days, when you shared your opinion on the accused’s innocence or guilt with nobody but the people you knew. Now, you can comment on a live-streamed trial in real time, to a global audience of strangers, on Twitter, on TikTok, on your own YouTube channel.

This was territory explored in Depp vs Heard (Channel 4), and it was profoundly depressing. A quick recap: Johnny Depp sued Amber Heard, his ex-wife, for defamation after she wrote a Washington Post op-ed referring to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”. Heard counter-sued, saying Depp’s lawyer defamed her by claiming that she fabricated allegations. The $50 million case played out last summer in Fairfax, Virginia.

Johnny Depp smiles at fans during a break on the final day of his defamation trial. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

This three-part series neatly boils down six weeks’ worth of evidence, setting the testimonies of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard side by side. It begins with the couple recounting the start of their love affair, when they were cast together in The Rum Diary. With their age gap, and Heard’s old-school glamour, he thought of them as Bogart and Bacall. “I acknowledged the fact that I was the old, craggy Bogey and she was this stunning creature,” he said. But then it all turned vicious, resulting first in a London court case that ruled against Depp, and then the Virginia case, which found in his favour.

Some sided with Heard, citing it as another #MeToo moment. But the public mood was overwhelmingly pro-Depp, with fans queuing outside the courthouse every day to show their support and many more supporting him online. A balanced view is that both of these people are awful. That there was shocking behaviour on both sides; that Heard was not a saintly figure, that Depp was a charming film star but a nasty drunk.

Unfortunately, we’re now in a world where everything has to be black and white, where taking sides and shouting loudly is the route to likes and subscriptions. This was the focus of the programme, as much a study of toxic social media culture as a toxic celebrity marriage. Moronic “influencers” filmed themselves watching the trial, turning it into their own version of Gogglebox. Heard, Depp and their lawyers became the subject of countless TikTok memes.

This wasn’t the Wagatha Christie trial, where the only things at stake were the reputations of two silly footballers’ wives and the subject matter was comically trivial. It was a serious case, turned into a social media circus.