Johnny Depp Fans Helped Pay for Unsealed Records From His Trial. Are They Sorry?

• A lawyer who said Amber Heard was abused claimed it was a “scam” that raised thousands of dollars to obtain unsealed court documents.
• The effort could backfire as they helped the legions of Depp fans who helped raise funds for the trove of documents.
• The documents have so far revealed evidence that Hurd was barred from appearing at the trial.

For weeks, Johnny Depp fans have been thrilled by the actor’s relative victory in the defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, who was reported to the Washington Post in 2018. Post) suggesting that he physically abused her.

But their march was dampened over the weekend by the release of thousands of pages of unsealed court documents in the case, most of which made Heard more sympathetic and Depp less likable.

For example, newly released documents show that Heard refused to demand a fair share of Depp’s multimillion-dollar fortune at the time of the divorce and accused Depp’s lawyers of trying to obtain nude photos of Heard as evidence at trial.

Lawyers supporting Depp chase documents

According to her tweet, Fairfax County was contacted by Washington state attorney Andrea Burckhardt last month when Judge Penny Azcarat unsealed thousands of court documents in the case Circuit Court for a copy of the record.

Burkhart is a self-described “legitimate color commentator” who closely follows Depp v. Hurd.

In the video, Burckhardt says she has been a lawyer for 15 years. In addition to Depp’s trial, she has been closely following the lawsuit involving Marilyn Manson and said she believed both were victims of false abuse allegations.

In her Depp coverage, Burckhardt tried to provide a legal perspective on his case, but often stepped into it.

From the outset, Burckhardt made it clear that she believed Hurd had committed an “abuse scam.”On the first day of the trial, Burckhardt tweet It is “time to stop ignoring the reality of violence against women and obliterating male victims of abuse”.

Throughout the trial, Depp maintained that he never physically abused Heard and that he was the real victim in their relationship.

When Burkhart learned that many of the sealed court documents would be made public after the verdict, she was almost giddy on her YouTube channel at the prospect that they might contain dirt on Heard.

“If Amber Heard wants to keep all these things secret behind a seal in the Fairfax County Courthouse, I think she’ll find herself out of luck and at the end of the day,” Burckhardt said in a statement YouTube Video from two weeks ago, before she got her hands on the unsealed documents.

Depp fans raise over $7,000 for unsealed documents

Obtaining unsealed court documents is expensive. Burckhardt said in a separate report that the court’s legal records manager told Burckhardt that there were more than 6,600 pages of unsealed documents and that it would cost $3,321 to obtain copies. tweet.

So she called on her 44,000+ followers to raise money. Less than an hour later, Burckhardt tweeted that the fundraising goal had been exceeded. Many of those who responded to her call wore pro-Depp pirate hats on their Twitter handles.

In a subsequent tweet, Burckhardt posted screenshots showing that she donated more than $7,000 in additional funds to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Art in Elysium.

The selection of the charities was a blow to Hurd, as the two organizations were the focus of the trial when Depp’s team presented evidence that Hurd had failed to meet his donation promises to them and the ACLU.

In a subtle attack on Heard, The Art of Elysium’s vice president, Leslie Cup, confirmed Burkhart’s donation in a statement to Insider on Tuesday.

“Yes, I can confirm that we received a donation of over $5,000 from Andrea Burkhart, not a pledge. We are very grateful,” Cup said.

Insiders could not independently confirm the donation to Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Unexpected results?

After widespread backlash online during the trial, many saw the newly exposed court documents as a net win for Hurd — and a bit of karma for her critics.

“Johnny Depp’s defenders crowdsourced thousands to pay to unblock new pages and texts in support of Amber Heard’s case… Sometimes fate has a sense of humor,” GitenbergNBC News’ tech and culture reporter, tweeted July 31.

Weekly newspaper Talking to two lawyers on Tuesday, they said the unsealed documents had a poor impact on Depp and could surprise fans who helped them publish them.

Entertainment attorney Frank Salzano told the outlet that he believed the unsealed documents “harmed Johnny Depp,” while Seattle-based attorney Kirk Davis told Newsweek: “If fans think opening these records will hurt Depp helps a lot, then they must be wrong.”

— Camilla (@k4mil1aa) August 2, 2022

— Bruce Wayne’s wife (@whatismisandry) July 31, 2022

—Tealariss (@Tealariss) August 2, 2022

— הילה (@lovingheard) July 31, 2022

Mainstream media “picky” information

Contacted by Insider, Burkhart, who declined to be interviewed but provided a statement, focused on the importance of public access to court documents.

“After more than two years of trial, I have become increasingly aware of the importance of direct access to court records as reputable media have proven unable or unwilling to report the proceedings accurately and fairly. Recent reports of these unsealed documents Very inaccurately reiterates the importance of making this material public so that everyone can evaluate the content for themselves,” Burckhardt said in her statement.

among Depp supporters YouTube channel On Wednesday morning, Burckhardt said the mainstream media was “picking” and “misinterpreting” the information in the unsealed documents.

“What’s interesting about all of this is that the bottom line really hasn’t changed. What matters at the trial hasn’t been undermined in the slightest,” Burckhardt said.

“It’s kind of like a sociological look at how these things are so twisted and twisted, so imagine if all we had was the mainstream media telling us what happened to these things,” Burckhardt added.

Burckhardt then spent much of his hour-long appearance downplaying the seriousness of a set of text messages between Depp and Manson that were contained in unsealed documents.

In one exchange, Manson appeared to offer Depp a groupie.

“My new fan meeting to say hi to girls. Looks like you need it. Trust me. I’ll send a pic,” Manson said in a text message.

Burckhardt specifically described the exchange as merely “bro talk.”

“It’s shocking — these are rock guys, and I’m sure they’ll pay attention to the babes in the entourage,” Burckhardt said.