The psychiatrist who testified that Johnny Depp displayed “narcissistic” personality traits said he had an “emotional concussion” from the backlash he received from the actor’s fans. Dr. David Spiegel testified on Amber Heard’s behalf last month during Depp’s defamation case, which Depp fans believe is enough to warrant the tirade of abuse they’ve sent his way.
- Depp was awarded $15 million by the jury. However, that amount was later capped at $10.35 million. Amber Heard was also awarded $2 million in damages in her counterclaim. However, regardless of the outcome of the trial, it is still far from over in the eyes of Depp’s most rabid fans.
- Spiegel took the stand on May 23. Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, asked Spiegel to outline the profile of someone who had suffered and perpetrated IPV and whether any of those traits matched up with Depp’s alleged behavior.
- Spiegel was clear in his opinions. He said on the stand: “In my opinion – based on my review of the evidence, based on my clinical experience, based on my publishing experience, based on my teaching experience – that Mr. Depp has behaviors that are consistent with both someone who has a substance use disorder as well as behaviors of someone who is a perpetrator of intimate partner violence.” He was perfectly justfied in what he said, but that’s not how Depp supporters see it.
- The psychiatrist wrote an op-ed for Newsweek revealing his experience after testifying. In a piece titled: “I Testified in the Heard vs. Depp Trial. The Backlash Has Been Horrific,” Spiegel outlined what happened to him in the hours, days, and weeks after giving testimony. “I drove to my hotel and around an hour later, at about 4 pm, my wife called me and said, ‘Listen, I don’t want you to look at what’s being said.’ I asked her how horrific it was, and she told me it was pretty bad,” he wrote. ”
“I’m not a social media expert, far from it, so I didn’t expect the whole horrific post-trial backflow. It’s been a little stunning for me. The volume of it, from the personal attacks on who I am and what I present like, to what I look like and say, was obviously a little hurtful. I deal with people for a living, so I tried to understand where people were coming from. It’s what a psychiatrist does. But the comments below the YouTube videos of me have been vile.” - Spiegel went on to say that the experience is unlike anything he’s ever dealt with before. While he’s no stranger to criticism, it was “never like that,” he says. “On that Monday and Tuesday, I had what I’d describe as an emotional concussion. It wasn’t physical, I didn’t get hit on the head, it was emotional because the feedback afterwards left me a little on the numb and dazed side. I slept a lot on Monday and Tuesday.”
- Spiegel believes Depp should be speaking out and telling his fans to practice kindness and empathy. “I would have liked Mr. Depp to get ahead of this and to have said, ‘Listen, I understand you are upset, but there are ways to express how to be upset,'” he wrote. “The fact that he hasn’t probably says potential volumes about him. Ms. Heard hasn’t come out and said anything either, but my opinion is that she is the most vulnerable person in this situation.”
