Summary
The Johnny Depp and Amber HeardNetflixdocumentary series,DEPP V. HEARD,doesn’t include interviews with either star. Director Emma Cooper explained her decision to forego interviewing the two stars at the center of the events that the limited series explores and dissects.
The publicly broadcast six-week legal battle in court that ended whenDepp won his defamation lawsuit against Heardwas the talk of the town for the entire preliminary period of the proceedings and beyond, with the conversation surrounding it encompassing issues that ignited a passion in people unrelated to the case itself. As a result, several media adaptations and representations of the trial were greenlit following its conclusion, withNetflixapproving the production of a docuseries about the case.
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With theDepp And Heard trial already dramatized inHot Take, director Cooper’s documentary didn’t need to bring any of the low-hanging fruit, and the director made her goal with theDEPP V. HEARDproject clear, as reported byVariety. “Really, my intention was always to try and make it about the conversation around the trial. I wanted to get away from any he-said-she-said from within the trial, and I just really wanted to talk about us and the way we communicate and the way that we look at events that don’t really have anything to do with us,” she said. “That is actually what the series is about — but I can’t help but look at some of the things that are being said about me without people having seen the series, and it’s interesting that people are drawing many conclusions, but that very much was not my intention.”
Clarifying elsewhere in the interview, Cooper succinctly stated that her intention right from the start was “to make a cogent and interesting reflection of what happened without using interviews or experts.” The decision to not interview either Depp or Heard, whose lawyer allegedcouldn’t pay Depp the stipulated $10.4 Million in damages, didn’t preclude the director from receiving backlash from supporters of either camp. On the topic of getting blowback about the documentary, Cooper humorously mused, “You know, it’s a balanced level of hate. I pride myself that it tends to be very 50/50.”
The polarized mindset of the general public surrounding the trial has not faded, withBrad Pitt’s legal drama with Angelina Joliedrawing comparisons to Depp vs. Heard in public discussion, proving Cooper’s point about the discourse surrounding the latter. The former couple aside, Cooper was insistent on doing things by the book, including reaching out to the legal representatives of each of the two stars to notify the parties about the docuseries, but didn’t press them for interviews either. “If the lawyers had really wanted to speak, then, of course, I would have interviewed them,” she conceded. “But I wouldn’t have done one without the other, by the way, because everything has to be balanced.”
While the Netflix docuseries will draw a lot of viewers in and present them with a more balanced and nuanced view of the case for the first time, it’s worth questioning how much good Cooper’s noble attempt will do in the long run. Dwelling on the case would seem to go against her central messaging regarding public interaction with unrelated drama, and releasing a comprehensive docuseries might restart the conversation, albeit with a more mature outlook. One thing is sure: Heard and Depp, whojoined TikTok during the buzzsurrounding the trial and immediately went viral, are past it.
