Pepin has studied the media’s coverage of domestic abuse and its bias favoring white male celebrities. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland. The media’s coverage shows not only bias toward Heard’s sexuality, but also how society tends to rush to the defense of white male celebrities like Depp, according to Joanna Pepin, a Ph.D. Even worse, the world will blame you for that abuse and women in the life of your abuser will stand up for him and never for you.” “You can and will be battered because of your bisexuality and when you are, no one will believe you and few will stand by you. “Right now the world is bearing witness to the realities of bi lives,” Cheltenham said. "Wow can't wait to get my scheming bisexual face beat by a celebrity so I can make that sweet settlement money"Ĭan the media stop referring to amber heard as depp's "bisexual wife"? Theyre playing on society's subconscious hatred+mistrust of bisexualsįaith Cheltenham, president of BiNet USA, an organization that works to increase bi visibility and that distributes educational information on issues relating to bisexuality, said the coverage of Amber Heard is actively harming other bisexual people. Her sexuality has NO relevance to any of this and the fact the media are trying to make out as though it does is fucking ridiculous The first tweet has since been deleted, The Independent reported, but they make important points about how Heard’s bisexuality is being received in this context - and Wood is definitely not alone in this observation.ġ Her name is Amber Heard not Bisexual WifeĤ These are gross /JWbgA5TZPp
It doesn’t mean Heard is somehow immoral or deserving of abuse.” She also retweeted “What does amber being bisexual and having lesbian friends have to do with anything? F*** the media seriously.” Bisexuality however is not a reason for violence.
Wood quoted a tweet that said “Amber Heard‘s sexuality is only relevant in that bi women are at far greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence. The actress Evan Rachel Wood, who is also bisexual, expressed some displeasure with the media coverage on Twitter. Bisexual people don’t go from being lesbian to straight based on who they’re in a relationship with - they’re bisexual the whole time. references Heard’s “lesbian friends” as putting their marriage “on the rocks.” Depp was “driven insane” by the suggestion that his wife was having an affair, the London Sun wrote, adding, “And his fears cast a huge shadow over their marriage as the actor lost all faith that bisexual Amber, who he wed in February last year, would ever be loyal.” The headline on that piece proclaimed “Bye, bi Amber.”Īnd the National Enquirer released a slideshow about Depp’s “bisexual bride’s lesbian past” that shows a real misunderstanding of how bisexuality works. But - in addition to trotting out many of the same tired narratives that domestic abuse survivors have encountered for decades such as insinuations they’re looking for financial rewards - the reporting has unfairly focused on Heard’s bisexuality.ĬREDIT: screenshot of London Sun headline Headlines about the Heard and Depp have dominated the media over the past several days. His representative responded to a BuzzFeed request by saying he would not respond to “salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life.” Heard, who has received a restraining order against her now-estranged husband, cites one particular incident in December when she “truly feared for her life.” She decided to file for divorce after an incident on May 21 when she alleges Depp threw a cell phone at her face, shoved her down on the ground, and grabbed her by the hair.ĭepp, meanwhile, has only responded to requests for comment through representatives. Actress Amber Heard went public this weekend about abuse allegations against her husband, actor Johnny Depp, filing a statement with the Los Angeles Police Department about what she says was ongoing physical and mental abuse.