It appears that the entire country is watching Johnny Depp and Amber Heard duke it out in a
defamation trial to unearth the truth about their year-long marriage's abuse.
While a lot has happened since the trial began, it all started when Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against Heard. When Heard wrote an op-ed about sexual violence in the Washington Post in 2018, she hinted that she had been abused during their year-long marriage, which ended in 2017. Depp claims that the abuse accusations were unmistakably about him, despite the fact that the op-ed didn't mention his name.
Depp subsequently filed a lawsuit against Heard, claiming that he was never violent. Heard responded with a countersuit, claiming that Depp was abusive and that she was only violent in self-defense.
The trial is still underway, and it's unclear what will happen or what the truth is. Both sides were aggressive during the marriage, according to the evidence, but it's unclear who was the principal aggressor.
What is slander, exactly?
Although the trial presently appears to be a tangled web of "he said, she said," it is based on defamation. What exactly does that imply?
Defamation, often known as defamation of character, refers to any public comment that harms someone's reputation. If a person believes their reputation has been harmed as a result of a false statement, they can sue the person who made the statement under defamation law.
When it comes to defamation, a fine line must be drawn between safeguarding one's right to free speech and protecting one's reputation. While an individual should be able to speak up about the reality of their experiences (important term "truth") without fear of being sued, they should not be able to make false remarks about others that may harm their reputation. Depp was within his rights to sue Heard in the first place since he believed her comments were false.
A defamation case's elements
You must have proof of all of the following criteria in order to win a defamation lawsuit:
Someone said something.
This declaration was made public.
Your reputation was harmed by the comment.
The statement was false.
The statement was not confidential (the person who made the statement did not have the lawful privilege, or right, to make the statement to a third party)
The impact of social media on defamation
Because it is so easy to make public statements via social media, defamation cases have become more widespread. It's vital to remember that when you hit the "publish" button on social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, you're in charge of everything you say. To minimize potential legal difficulties, use prudence on social media networks and don't overshare. The same rules apply to online defamation as they do to traditional forms of media.
Slander and libel
Defamation includes both libel and slander. Defamatory statements put in writing or published are referred to as libel. A slanderous statement is one that has been made.
Someone making a damaging, untrue comment about someone else in a blog or news story is an example of libel. Someone making a defamatory comment about someone else in a broadcast interview is an example of slander. Contact LegalShield for any advice.
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