Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and us: Rather than repeating #MeToo mantras

The surprise verdict in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard defamation trial, in which a Fairfax,

Va., jury awarded Depp $15 million and Heard $2 million on her counterclaim,

has been met with cries of dismay and anger from progressive punditry and social media

which had already been deploring the pro-Depp drift of online public opinion as a misogynistic backlash.

fight against domestic abuse but did not directly mention Depp

the ex-husband she had previously accused of abusing her.

the two being treated as interchangeable.

And there’s the rub. Because, if you give at least some credibility to Depp’s claim

that he was the primary victim of abuse in their relationship