Yes, I stand by what I say. Johnny Depp stans are kinda weird.

Why do you ask?

If you haven’t been keeping up, actor Johnny Depp is suing actress Amber Heard, for defamation. Specifically, for the op-ed published in the Washington Post in 2018. Heard wrote in the headline, “I spoke up against sexual violence—and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.” In this op-ed, she never mentioned Depp, but referred to herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” She may not have dropped names, but this statement implies that Depp abused Heard during their marriage.

The Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial is being watched globally, with fans expressing their thoughts and opinions on social media. Discussions over the details of the case have been circulating over the past two months, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop anytime soon. Tiktoks, tweets, Facebook posts, Reddit discussions, and videos of people analyzing the trial have flooded different social media platforms. It is almost inescapable. Whenever there is something new to the case, you’d hear about it, even if you’re not particularly following the trial.

As expected from the Internet, people were quick to make light of the situation. Johnny Depp trial fancams, funny edits, and videos of people making fun of Amber Heard’s testimony are all over social media. A trial that has been covering domestic abuse is being made fun of on the Internet. That doesn’t sit right with me.

When you check the discussions on the Internet, you are most likely to find that more people support Depp than Heard. Depp stans have taken this trial into a weird and frankly, disgusting kind of place. The trial has been reduced into memes and trends, with people bandwagoning for clout. Amber Heard is being dragged through the mud, stepped on, and lit on fire. She is being treated as a joke, and so is the whole trial.

The Johnny Depp bias has spiraled beyond what is real. If you only rely on social media posts, you might think that Depp is a saint. When examining the actual evidence and facts, you realize that he’s not exactly the protagonist that his fans are making him out to be. This is the problem with celebrity trials—the supporters have so much emotional investment into the figure they’re supporting that it is hard for them to see the reality. We will always want to root for them and grasp at straws to make sure that they appear victorious.

Depp’s stans have been producing one-sided propaganda that frames Amber Heard as a villain, accusing her of sniffing cocaine, using makeup to fake injuries, and most shockingly, even murdering her mother to prevent her from testifying. This is all unhealthy and it does not encourage a real discussion about the matter at hand. The trial has already damaged the #MeToo movement, as female domestic abuse victims become fearful of taking action after seeing the backlash that Amber Heard is receiving. This case is already encouraging abusers to sue their victims. Marilyn Manson, one of Depp’s close friends, who has been accused of rape, is now suing one of his accusers, Evan Rachel Wood, for defamation. What will happen now to the victims? Where will they find the courage to fight when they see the odds that are stacked against them?

This is not about who should win the case, or who is telling the truth. It’s about how we are treating it. Everything can be turned into a joke these days, but sometimes it’s better to bite our tongue. Sometimes, we should just shut up.