The mainstream media reports to support its own narrative and use that narrative to strongly influence people’s thought processes.
We are not blind.
Amber Heard has been the center of attention for the last three months; the defamation lawsuit brought against her by Johnny Depp is one of the most researched events on the internet. It seems that Amber’s PR team has chosen now to target YouTube content creators.
During her June 2, 2022 appearance on CBS Mornings, Elaine Bredehoft of Ms. Heard’s legal team talked about the events and the outcome of the trial. With co-host Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, and Nate Burleson, she said:
“We had cameras in the courtroom. Here, we had not only did we have a group of Depp fans that were there every day, 100 were allowed in, and they lined up at one in the morning for wristbands to be in that courtroom, but we had everything on camera, and we had tremendous social media that was very, very, very much against Amber.”
On NBC’s “Dateline” program on June 17, 2022, Savannah Guthrie interviewed Amber Heard in the aftermath of the verdict decided in Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit. During the broadcast, Amber spoke of “feeling silenced” by the verdict, which she says is precisely what it intended to do. The jury found that Amber Heard defamed Johnny Depp, but the actress says she has no plans to backtrack on what she said about him in court. Further, she doubled-down on her accusations that Depp abused her and deflected questions about her on-tape statements to him. She added during her interview with Savannah Guthrie on “Dateline”:
“Even if you think that I’m lying, you still couldn’t look me in the eye and tell me that you think on social media there’s been a fair representation. You cannot tell me that you think that this has been fair.”
Amber Heard
Amber Heard’s friend Eve Barlow, who vehemently supported her throughout the defamation trial (and had been removed from the courtroom for tweeting), has now launched an online war against some YouTubers who made videos against Amber Heard.
Most of the videos allegedly smeared the image of the Aquaman actress. Barlow seems to have had enough of her friend being disrespected and decided to take matters into her own hands – she targeted a YouTuber, Matthew Lewis (popularly known as That Umbrella Guy) who has written and recorded commentary on Amber Heard and Johnny Depp for more than two (2) years.
We must ask ourselves, is this ever going to end?
The mainstream media wants us to believe that for Amber Heard, losing credibility has made her the target of YouTubers who profit from her misfortune. But is it really true?
Creating a Narrative
YouTubers such as Auditing the Absurd, Popcorned Planet, and That Umbrella Guy acted as investigative journalists and have dedicated a great deal of time to the trial, in addition to covering the marriage and subsequent divorce of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
It appears that some YouTubers conducted appropriate research and reported on what they learned. Further, it seems that mainstream media had not conducted comparable research, nor have they been held accountable for their lack of conscientiousness and accuracy. In a perfect world, mainstream media and YouTubers could act more collaboratively and share research with the goal of accurate and unbiased reporting that can inform all of us.
Finally, the distinction between “news reporting” and “commentary” should be highlighted. Most legitimate news agencies employ fact-checkers, editors, and whole research departments that are charged with validating and backing up what reporters write. While YouTubers and social media bloggers likely conduct their own research and fact-checking, their writings may be seen as commentary or unsubstantiated. There is room in this world for both types of reporting and writing, and both should be welcomed as they help to broaden the perspective of all who read and learn from their contributions.
Just recently, Newsweek made a derogatory comment article a Youtuber named “That Umbrella Guy”, exposing without consent, his real name. They called him out for making money by covering the trial.
Interestingly, a person called Christopher Bouzy told Newsweek that his company Bot Sentinel is one of the few “dedicated to creating public awareness” and its mission statement is to “help fight disinformation and targeted harassment” online.
We should ask ourselves, is this ever going to end? The mainstream media wants us to believe that for Amber Heard, losing credibility has made her the target of YouTubers who profit from her misfortune. But is it really true?
Creating a Narrative
YouTubers such as Auditing the Absurd, Popcorned Planet, and That Umbrella Guy acted as investigative journalists and have dedicated a great deal of time to the trial, in addition to covering the marriage and subsequent divorce of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
It appears that some YouTubers conducted appropriate research and reported on what they learned.
Further, it seems that mainstream media had not conducted comparable research, nor have they been held accountable for their lack of conscientiousness and accuracy. In a perfect world, mainstream media and YouTubers could act more collaboratively and share research with the goal of accurate and unbiased reporting that can inform all of us.
Finally, the distinction between “news reporting” and “commentary” should be highlighted.
Most legitimate news agencies employ fact-checkers, editors, and whole research departments that are charged with validating and backing up what reporters write. While YouTubers and social media bloggers likely conduct their own research and fact-checking, their writings may be seen as commentary or unsubstantiated.
There is room in this world for both types of reporting and writing, and both should be welcomed as they help to broaden the perspective of all who read and learn from their contributions.
Just recently, Newsweek made a derogatory article about a Youtuber named “That Umbrella Guy”, exposing without consent, his real name. They called him out for making money by covering the trial. What’s interesting, is that those who supported this were people who worked for Amber Heard. An individual called Christopher Bouzy told Newsweek that his company Bot Sentinel is one of the few “dedicated to creating public awareness” and its mission statement is to “help fight disinformation and targeted harassment” online.
Bot Sentinel, an app funded mainly through donations that studies targeted misinformation and harassment campaigns, says it found 300 fake Twitter accounts promoting negative sentiments about Heard.
Bot Sentinel CEO Christopher Bouzy has worked for the Miss Amber Heard’s team and has stated on Today Show:
“Targeting her, putting out ‘Amber Heard is an abuser,’ ‘Amber Heard as a liar,’ and at the same time, those same accounts were amplifying positive stuff about Johnny Depp,”.
It makes one wonder, whether Amber’s team is trying too hard to prove that she has lost the defamation case, due to content creators, who were documenting the trial and letting the public express their own opinions about it.
The trial had nothing to do with misogyny.
YouTubers, specifically Auditing the Absurd, posted many comments resulting from Kate James’ (Amber Heard’s personal assistant) testimony in support of Johnny Depp. People watched the YouTuber’s content because they believed the comments were fair, weren’t trying to create a narrative, and ultimately provided fair trial coverage that was watched by millions. Some examples:
- Posted by xoxo (female writer): “I love this woman so much! She handled the attorney so well. The silences to make her talk and the sneaky questions to get her into a corner. She doesn’t let herself be influenced or manipulated by them and it’s GREAT!”
- Posted by Michael Calland: “Amber’s treatment of this woman says everything I need to know about her character. People in a position of power, or people with “money”, who treat their staff this way think that they are better than most people & that they are entitled to shit on whoever they want. No doubt in my mind that AH has been lying her arse off about Depp since the beginning. She basically took her own actions & abuse of Depp & twisted it around 180 degrees.”
- Posted by YesPls (female writer): “I absolutely LOVED this woman’s testimony. She makes absolutely no attempt to hide her contempt for Amber. She clearly saw a LOT of her ugly side.”
- Posted by Alice: “I’m so glad this woman got to tell her story about how Amber abused her. You can be damn sure there are many other celebs in Hollywood treating their staff this way and it’s despicable. Nobody should be treated that way!”
- Posted by Kate G: “It’s scary to me how much Amber Heard reminds me of my rage disordered/oppositional defiant step-daughter. She’s exactly the same age and she is devious and manipulative. I had to break all contact and I’m still hated by the rest of the family. I believe every word of Ms. James’ testimony.”
Posted by Amanda de Cadenet (former friend of Amber Heard): “At first I thought the trial would be complicated to win. I was a person who believed AH, until the audio tapes came out. However, after AH got on the stand, it was then I realized she has completely lost touch with reality. I wonder if she actually believes her lies. I enjoyed watching you and Claire, I think you’re both funny and I also like that you could read the chat. Some YouTube live chats were scrolling so fast, I didn’t even want to bother watching anyone else’s livestream but yours. Also, you had a few guests on there! Advocates for DV (domestic violence) against men. I take the most out of all of this is there is way more DV against men than I knew. All victims should come forward, male and female.”
People have the right to shape their own opinions.
Mila
Auditing the Absurd YouTube channel fully discloses how much he made on covering the trial from the perspective of truth and honesty; the garlic and the crucifix to the toxic individuals in our lives.
YouTube creators were prepared to sit daily for 10 hours and make videos to cover the trial for the entire two months to make sure that people’s voices were heard just as loud as the mainstream media who have been protecting the abused for years.
Now if that’s not dedication, passion, and search for the truth, what is?
About Partners in Men’s Health (PMH)
Unfortunately, there are many domestic and sexual assault victims who don’t get to tell their stories.
At PMH we encourage you to share your stories. In some sense we are all Johnny – we all have our strengths and weakness. We have our “addictions” and felt injustice in this world. Johnny had the courage to admit his mistakes, own them, and move forward.
Let’s applaud him, ourselves, and YouTubers for being who we are; for speaking our truth.
PMH invites you to speak up and share your survival and recovery stories. Why? Because it is beneficial for your recovery and will become the foundation of our international public health, education, and awareness campaign for all of you who have been affected by Toxic Abusive Relationships (TAR).
“Veritas numquam perit. Truth never perishes.”
Johnny Depp.
