Tuesday 24 May 2022 01:46 PM 'Who wins in a trial like this? Not Depp. Not Heard': Amanda Knox weighs in on ... trends now
Amanda Knox has said neither Johnny Depp nor Amber Heard will truly win in the feuding ex's defamation trial 'spectacle' because their 'trauma, pain and ugliness' has been paraded before millions of people.
Knox, 34, who has faced public backlash more than a decade after she was wrongfully convicted of the 2007 murder of British university student Meredith Kercher in Italy, said she feels sorry for Heard and Depp as they have also faced the public's 'unforgiving and unaccountable judgement'.
The American said she is 'still dealing with the psychological trauma of the public shaming she endured' during her sensational trial over the murder of Kercher, 21, that made international headlines.
Knox said that high-profile trials can no longer happen without the public 'speculating, accusing, slandering, threatening... and objectifying' those on trial for their 'own moral crusades'.
Writing in the Independent in an op-ed, Knox wrote: 'Who wins in a trial like this? Not Depp. Not Heard. Not us.
'But can't we condemn the spectacle and yet still sift the evidence to arrive at our conclusions about the guilt and innocence of these two human beings whose trauma and pain and ugliness has been paraded before us?
Amanda Knox, 34, who has faced public backlash more than a decade after she was wrongfully convicted of the 2007 murder of British university student Meredith Kercher in Italy, said she feels sorry for Heard and Depp as they have also faced the public's 'unforgiving and unaccountable judgement'. Pictured: Knox escorted by police officers during her trial in Italy in 2008
'I'm not going to tell you my opinion on the Depp v Heard trial. My opinion is just that, an opinion, and it doesn't matter. And frankly, neither does yours.'
The defamation trial revolves around a 2018 Washington Post op-ed written by Heard where she referred to herself as a 'public figure representing domestic abuse'. Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million, alleging defamation in the op-ed whilst Heard has countersued for defamation for $100 million from the actor.
The couple married in a private civil ceremony at their LA home in February 2015 but after just 15 months of marriage, Heard filed for divorce in May 2016, citing irreconcilable differences. Four days later a judge issued a temporary restraining order against Depp over domestic violence allegations.
Knox spoke of the 'psychological trauma' she endured during her murder trial in Italy and said that no one should have to face public judgement.
She wrote: 'I am still dealing with the psychological trauma of the public shaming I've endured. It's no small thing.'
Knox added: 'No one, not even the privileged and wealthy, should have to face such unforgiving and unaccountable judgment. That feeling, and it is not a good feeling, is the feeling of our collective gaze.
'It can't happen without us speculating, accusing, slandering, threatening, think-piecing, and objectifying these human beings for our own moral crusades.'
