What I learned from the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Case
“There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth.” — Robert Evans
I followed the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial on and off. But things got serious when their case was covered on CNN. The verdict delivered live on the news channel was in Johnny Depp’s favor. I wondered how celebrity cases could take so much of our news time when we are still dealing with the invasion of Ukraine, the increase in national shootings, and coming off the heels of a horrific attack in Uvalde, Texas. We could chalk it up to our fascination with celebrities. Some may agree with journalist Carla Hiaasen:
“newsrooms in the US are shrinking — investigation teams are being terminated or shrunk on newspapers all around the country. The one aspect that’s expanded is coverage of celebrity coverage.”
Hiaasen has a valid point. But in this situation, I resolve it to just human nature. We are naturally curious.
Humans want to feel connected to everything and everyone; we want to listen and share. We find community in discussing the same topic, regardless of diverse, divisive thoughts and opinions. Some listen, and many of us judge. Our curiosity has us doing utterly unproductive things like reading news about people we will never meet, learning topics we will never have use for…
