Wednesday 16 November 2022 06:59 PM Gloria Steinem supports Amber Heard in open letter after she lost trial against ... trends now

Political activist Gloria Steinem has shown her support for Amber Heard via an open letter condemning 'public shaming' in the wake of the star's $100m defamation trial loss against ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Feminist Steinem, 88, joined a host of intimate partner violence organizations including the National Organization for Women, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Women’s March Foundation in signing the letter published on Wednesday.

Exes Heard and Depp - who tied the knot in 2015, and were married for one year before Heard filed for divorce in 2016 - battled it out in court to determine if a 2018 Washington Post essay written by Heard, in which she accused the actor of domestic abuse, defamed Depp.

After a months-long trial, Heard lost her case in June, with Steinem and other organizations blasting social media for mocking the star's 'allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault for entertainment.'

The letter read: 'Five months ago, the verdict in the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard deeply concerned many professionals in the fields of intimate partner and sexual violence...  

'The vilification of Ms. Heard and ongoing online harassment of her and those who have voiced support for her have been unprecedented in both vitriol and scale.

'Much of this harassment was fueled by disinformation, misogyny, biphobia, and a monetized social media environment where a woman’s allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault were mocked for entertainment.'

'The same disinformation and victim-blaming tropes are now being used against others who have alleged abuse.