As Angelina Jolie is dubbed ‘another Amber Heard’, we must face up to the troubling legacy of Depp v Heard

While many have come out in support of Jolie, there’s also been a disturbing undercurrent of misogynistic rhetoric in which Jolie is compared to Heard. One Twitter user tweeted a screenshot of a news story about the Pitt/Jolie case with the caption, “Looks like we have another #AmberHeard,” while another wrote, “Now tell me the difference between Amber Heard and Angelina Jolie apart from their age difference: husband snatching, knife loving, blood carrying, public manipulating, tears faking, news planting, narcissistic and vindictive personality traits, playbook of men hating agenda. etc.”

Meanwhile, TMZ reported that “Jolie is on a smear campaign against Brad Pitt,” and YouTube is awash with videos sensationalizing the conflict for clicks, one of the top entries for ‘Angelina Jolie’ on the video-sharing platform is a clip titled, “Angelina Jolie RAGES For Being Compared To Amber Heard In New Video.”

The comparison between Jolie and Heard is an uneasy one because, yes, there are similarities between the two cases, but instead of focusing on how men navigate allegations of abuse, many are using the similarities to discredit ALL victims. As Cat Cardenas, a writer and photographer, points out, “Since the trial, “another Amber Heard” has become shorthand to call women liars for speaking out about abuse or just for being “unlikeable.” In the last month it’s been used against Meghan Markle, Evan Rachel Wood, Olivia Wilde, and now Angelina Jolie, predictable and disgusting.”

Angelina Jolie is not the only celebrity to be compared to Heard in the aftermath of Depp v Heard – in fact, court documents from the trial itself show that Marilyn Manson previously referred to his wife, Lindsay Usich, as “Amber 2.0” (via People).

This is particularly disturbing given that Manson is currently in the process of suing Evan Rachel Wood for defamation after she alleged that he groomed her as a teenager, manipulated her, and abused her for years. Responding to the allegations, Marilyn Manson shared an Instagram post saying, “There will come a time when I can share more about the events of the past year. Until then, I’m going to let the facts speak for themselves.”

It’s easy (and perhaps weirdly comforting) to believe that this troubling rhetoric is limited to A-listers who, if they’re going to be discredited and victim-blamed, at least get to endure it within luxurious confines. But it’s just not the case: in September this year, a man named Sean Lloyd was sentenced to two years and four months in prison for attacking his ex-partner. Her victim statement, which was read in Leeds Crown Court, described how she thought Lloyd would strangle her to death and that he had her saved as “Amber Heard” on his phone (via Yorkshire Live).

Clearly, this issue is not limited to Hollywood.

Carmel Offord, who works for Independent Domestic Abuse Services, spoke to GLAMOUR about the impact of Depp v Heard on survivors, noting that “The public response to the defamation case filed by Johnny Depp against Amber Heard was a disturbing demonstration of why so many victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence feel unable to access support or report to the police.

“People were quick to choose sides, treating the trial like a sport, cheering, and jeering from the sidelines. Victim-survivors tell us that this is one of the barriers to them speaking out, they fear they will be disbelieved, judged, and their credibility questioned. Many will understandably be concerned about another, very public, case dominating the press and media.”