Phoebe Bridgers defends Amber Heard, says public response to Johnny Depp trial was “disgusting”
Phoebe Bridgers has shared her thoughts on the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamation trial, specifically calling out the “disgusting” online treatment Heard received from Depp fans.
Bridgers addressed the trial – which culminated in May with Depp’s victory on three counts of defamation – in an interview published by Teen Vogue on Wednesday (October 26). When asked her opinion on the matter, particularly after ‘liking’ a tweet in Heard’s defence, Bridgers said that the “whole situation was so upsetting to me,” calling out the public’s expectation of Heard to be “the perfect victim”.
“I think that there’s been this falsehood – and I think queer people are included in this – of having to be the perfect victim, or the perfect survivor, or the perfect representation for your marginalized community,” the singer said.
“If Amber Heard exhibited any neurotic behaviour, it was held against her. Then Johnny Depp, out of his mouth, admitted some of the most violent, crazy shit in court, and it’s somehow like, people aren’t surprised?”
Elaborating on the double standards in the public’s reception of Heard, Bridgers later likened the reaction to the trial to “a fandom war”, which she deemed as “disgusting.” She continued: “It was treated like a fandom war. Laughing at someone crying in court? It was disgusting.” The singer then discussed the trial in relation to ‘cancel culture’, and questioned whether it was effective in holding celebrities like Depp accountable.
“I mean, is [cancel culture] real? Who’s lost their job politically?” Bridgers asked “[Harvey Weinstein] is in jail for actual sex crimes, and then anything short of that is, maybe, they lose a couple friends or lose a couple jobs…Then five years later, they’re like, ‘Sorry, sorry, sorry.’ And they come back, but they never apologise – they never go away.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Bridgers was quizzed on the political lyrics on her most recent album, 2020’s ‘Punisher’, saying that she didn’t think of the album “as a political statement” but rather “just something I was thinking.” Bridgers followed-up ‘Punisher’ in April of this year with ‘Sidelines’, a standalone track which featured on the soundtrack of Hulu’s Conversations With Friends.
Last month, Bridgers featured on the Marcus Mumford song ‘Stonecatcher’, which featured on the tracklist of the Mumford & Sons frontman’s debut solo album, ‘(self-titled)’. Teasing her own upcoming solo projects to Teen Vogue, Bridgers said: “Whatever I’m angry about now, I’m sure it will come to the fore in whatever I make next.”
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Tom Disalvo
NME
