Anatomy of #BelieveHer Industry
Verdict against Amber Heard indicts the #BelieveHer industry
Read the original complaint by Johnny Depp. If you have any additions or edits, please email me at asra@asranomani.com.
PHASE 1: EXPLOIT GOOD INTENTIONS
1981
The National Women’s Law Center was organized as a 501(c)3 in D.C. in 1981, according to its financial statement. Its financial records are at this link.
The National Women’s Law Center Action Fund was established as a 501(c)4 in D.C. in 2012.
In its financial statement for the year ended June 30, 2021, the statement said the National Women’s Law Center is the sole member of the National Women’s Law Center Fund LLC, which was organized in D.C. as an LLC in 2018. It said, “The LLC is dedicated to the purpose of helping individuals who face sex discrimination and other forms of sexual harassment connect with legal representation and public relations assistance.”
In the financial statement it said that the LLC’s net assets included $7.95 million for the “TIMES UP Legal Defense Fund” and “Legal Network for Gender Equity.” It posted $5.41 million in total operating expenses. It included $3.26 million in litigation fees and $2.38 million in salaries, benefits and payroll taxes.
June 20, 1990 — Violence Against Women Act
From the Obama administration’s official White House statement:
On June 20, 1990, then-Senator Joe Biden introduced the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the United States Congress. This act was a landmark piece of legislation that changed the way our country responded to domestic violence and sexual assault. VAWA changed law enforcement practices, improved the criminal justice system, and created a network of services for victims. The bill established new federal crimes of interstate domestic violence and stalking, doubled penalties for repeat sex offenders, and sparked the passage of laws at the state level to protect victims. Since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, rates of domestic violence have decreased by over 50%.
The U.S. Justice Department has distributed an estimated S9 billion in grants to nonprofit and other initiatives with a focus on men as abusers and women as victims, critics say.
PHASE 2: NAME AND SHAME
1993 — SKDK founding
In 1993, Anita Dunn joined Democratic consultants Bob Squier and Bill Knapp to form Squier Dunn Knapp, the firm now known as SKDK. Later, a woman, former Biden Senate staffer Tara Reade alleged that Joe Biden had sexually assaulted her in 1993.
Later, The Intercept’s Lee Fang reported in May 2020 that Dunn joined the Biden campaign team even though her firm had worked on behalf of business interests to “undermine progressive causes.” In May 2021, Fang reported that Dunn was escaping disclosure requirements as a Biden administration advisor.
Rolling Stone reported years later:
April 4th, 2004, is a date Laura Dunn has never forgotten. That was the day the Midwestern preacher’s daughter who didn’t believe in sex before marriage says she lost her virginity to not one but two University of Wisconsin-Madison athletes. Dunn was a freshman member of the crew team, attending a boozy frat bash, and she lost count of her intake after seven raspberry-vodka shots. She remembers two older teammates led her out, guys she knew. She was stumbling drunk, but one of them helped her walk, and they headed, she thought, toward another campus party. Instead, they led her to one of their apartments, where she found herself on a bed with both of them on top of her, as she drifted in and out of consciousness. When she started to get sick, one of them led her to the bathroom, where he penetrated her from behind while she was throwing up.
2009
Sept. 14, 2009 — Amber Heard Seattle arrest
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On Sept. 14, 2009, Amber Heard allegedly grabbed and hit her girlfriend and photographer Tasya van Ree in the arm at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to an airport employee.
Heard was arrested and booked for misdemeanor domestic violence, and appeared in King County District Court the next day. The King County prosecutor decided to not prosecute her and released Heard with a warning because both women lived in California at the time.
December 2009 — Sexual assault on campuses reporting
Starting on Dec. 1, 2009, the Center for Public Integrity published a series of articles on allegations of sexual assault on college campuses.
Later, in 2015, feminist scholar Christina Hoff Sommers wrote, “The Media is Making College Rape Culture Worse,” in the Daily Beast, arguing:
The frenzy over college sexual assault now sweeping the nation was triggered by a specific event.
In 2010, a small team of investigative journalists published a report revealing, so they claimed, an epidemic of college rape. The report was a jumble of highly selective reporting and dubious statistics, as we shall see. But the reporters spread the news far and wide and no one thought to question their accuracy.
Federal officials were electrified by the findings and launched a draconian crusade. The term “rape culture,” previously limited to gender-theory seminars, slowly found its way into the national lexicon.
Before long, otherwise sensible people came to believe that Yale, Swarthmore, and the University of Michigan were among the most dangerous places on earth for young women. Dozens of falsely accused young men were subjected to kangaroo court proceedings and expelled from college. By 2014, the panic produced outbursts of fanaticism—a young woman carried a mattress around Columbia in an attempt to expel a classmate who was found not responsible for sexually assaulting her.
She continued:
And it all began in 2010. That year, reporters at National Public Radio teamed up with the left-leaning journalism organization Center for Public Integrity (CPI) to produce and promote a 104-page “investigative reporting series” (PDF) entitled “Sexual Assault on Campus: A Frustrating Search for Justice.” (Full disclosure: The Daily Beast is an occasional publishing partner of CPI’s.)
The executive director of CPI, Bill Buzenberg, summed up the plight of millions of young women on campus in a single word: “Nightmare.” According to the report, serial predators are roaming free on college campuses. The occasional victim who finds the courage to report her attack is unlikely to secure justice. More often than not, she will be “re-victimized” by invasive, humiliating, and futile proceedings.
Should she turn to the Office for Civil Rights, the federal agency responsible for monitoring the Title IX equity law, she is likely to be thwarted once again. The report depicts the OCR as a lazy, feckless watchdog that “leaves students at risk.” Exhibit A is the story of Laura Dunn.
Laura Dunn allegations at UNC
On Dec. 1, 2009, the Center for Public Integrity published a package that later included articles on Laura Dunn and her allegations of rape at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
In 2009, Andrea Pino and Annie Clark visited Sen. Gillibrand and discussed the issue of campus sexual assault at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Friends and others have questioned Pino’s allegations. The Center for Public Integrity published interviews with Pino.
Later, writer Cathy Young wrote in Reason magazine that Pino won important rulings against University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but there were serious doubts cast about Pino’s claims. She wrote:
A case that helped jump-start a wave of campus sexual assault activism across America has ended in a big win for the complainants. Last week the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education released its findings on the federal complaint four students and an administrator filed against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in January 2013.
…But that victory comes with an asterisk. While Pino's role in the UNC complaint propelled the 26-year-old Florida native to national visibility—she has met with politicians, was showcased in the 2015 campus rape documentary The Hunting Ground, has co-authored a book of survivor narratives, and speaks frequently oncollege campuses—there are also serious questions, unanswered and largely unasked, about the credibility of her own story of sexual assault.
The Campus Rape Frenzy, a 2017 book by the Brooklyn College historian K.C. Johnson and the National Journal writer Stuart Taylor, critically examines claims of a neglected epidemic of sexual violence on campus. It describes Pino's complaint against UNC as "the highest-profile questionable Title IX claim." (Title IX is the statute that requires colleges to investigate sexual harassment and assault.) Johnson and Taylor point out a number of implausibilities and inconsistencies in Pino's accounts both of her rape and of her alleged mistreatment by the university. While they stop short of calling Pino's story a hoax, they note that it has some startling parallels to that of Jackie, the faux victim in Rolling Stone's retracted story of a brutal fraternity rape at the University of Virginia.
2010
February 2010
On Feb. 24, 2010, NPR’s investigative unit published a package it did with the Center for Public Integrity about how “1 out of 5 college women” were sexually assaulted, according to U.S. Justice Department data later questioned. The lead anecdote was about an alleged sexual assault a student, Laura Dunn, experienced in April 2004 at the end of her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin.
June 2010
In June 2010, @SurvJustice launched on Twitter.
2011
January 2011
The Obama administration dedicated a page on its website, “About Vice President Biden's Efforts to End Violence Against Women,” stating that he had appointed Lynn Rosenthal as the first White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, stating:
As Vice President, Joe Biden has continued to advocate on behalf of women. Upon entering office, the Vice President appointed the first ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, Lynn Rosenthal. In this role, Ms. Rosenthal advises the Vice President on the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, serves as a liaison to the domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy community and promotes collaboration across federal agencies. This interagency approach to reducing violence against women has resulted in an unprecedented level of coordination among federal agencies.
April 2011 — “Dear Colleague” Title IX Letter
On April 4, 2011, Vice President Joe Biden visited the University of New Hampshire to announce a new administration effort expanding Title IX requirements in the case of alleged sexual violence on campuses, issuing a “Dear Colleague” letter from the U.S. Department of Education.
At the event:
S. Daniel Carter
Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber
Laura Dunn, survivor
Sharyn Potter, associate professor at the University of New Hampshire, who said she was raped in college in the mid-1980s.
Lynn Rosenthal
People familiar with the letter said that Dunn, Dauber and Michele Obama chief of staff Tina Tchen helped author it. Tchen later cofounded Time’s Up, and she was also later named head of the Council for Women and Girls.
Tchen and her colleagues had a national roadshow discussing the issue on campus violence at universities, police departments and the offices of policymakers. They needed ambassadors and advocates, say people familiar with the campaign.
That’s where the relationship with the PR powerhouse SKDK came in handy.
The “Dear Colleague Letter” said:
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq., and its implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 106, prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities operated by recipients of Federal financial assistance.
Russlyn Ali signed the letter.
The Chronicle of Higher Education later wrote:
“How a 20-Page Letter Changed the Way Higher Education Handles Sexual Assault…Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. traveled to the U. of New Hampshire to unveil the Obama administration’s influential ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, putting the weight of the White House behind the battle against campus sexual assault.”
@TheFireorg argued that the “Dear Colleague” letter denied male students due process. On its website, it says:
Over the next six years, FIRE sent letters to OCR and to universities, wrote countless articles explaining the risk of erroneous guilty findings, provided congressional testimony on the issue, and even sponsored a federal lawsuit arguing that the mandate was unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act. Finally, on September 22, 2017, the Office for Civil Rights issued a new “Dear Colleague” letter rescinding the 2011 letter.
December 2011
According to a criminal lawyers’ blog:
On December 6, 2011, a Federal Bureau of Investigation advisory board voted to expand the definition and Director Robert Mueller accepted the recommendation. The former definition was established in 1927 and can be found under the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. The old definition stated that rape was “The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” The old definition excluded oral and anal penetration, the rape of males, the penetration of the vagina or anus with an object or body part other than the penis, the rape of females by females, the rape of children, and non-forcible rape.
2012
March 2012 — @KnowYourIX
In March 2019, @KnowYourIX started on Twitter.
May 2012 — Birth of Precision Strategies
On May 2, 2013, Jon Ward reported at Huffington Post:
Three former top campaign aides to President Barack Obama are starting consulting firm, continuing an ongoing trend of former Obama staffers entering the private sector to rake in large consulting fees.
Stephanie Cutter and Jen O'Malley Dillon, both deputy campaign managers on Obama's reelection campaign, and Teddy Goff, the 2012 digital director, are forming Precision Strategies, based in Washington and New York, they announced Thursday.
In 2013, Holly Jacobs started an organization, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, that Heard later wrote about in the New York Times:
Holly Jacobs was working on her doctoral dissertation in Miami when she discovered that her private images had been released without her consent…In an effort to fight back, Ms. Jacobs founded a nonprofit organization called the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative in 2013. I learned about it when Ms. Jacobs was named a finalist for the 2018 L’Oréal Women of Worth Award, for which I served as a presenter. For six years, C.C.R.I. has been spearheading crucial efforts for technological, social and legal changes to fight nonconsensual pornography, online abuse and the pervasive assault on privacy rights that is rampant in our digital world
2014
January 2014
On its website, the Obama administration said:
On January 22, 2014, the Vice President joined President Obama when he created the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The Office of the Vice President currently co-chairs the interagency taskforce along with the White House Council on Women and Girls.
Sexual rights advocate Laura Dunn was on the task force.
The White House released a report, “Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action.” There was only one reference to “men and boys” as victims, saying:
“Men and boys, however, are also at risk: 1 in 71 men — or almost 1.6 million — have been raped during their lives.”
March 2014
Lena Dunham and Jodi Gottlieb
On March 10, 2014, the UK’s Daily Mail published an article about actress Lena Dunham, hobnobbing at a party, photographed in one selfie ”joined by her publicist, Jodi Gottlieb.” Gottlieb was later a publicist to Heard when the ACLU wrote the op-ed published in the Washington Post.
On June 25, 2014, writer Cathy Young published a column in Time magazine, outline how many ways men’s allegations of abuse went dismissed.
On Oct. 9, 2014, Vogue writer Rebecca Johnson wrote a positive profile on Annie Clark and Andrea Pino, in a headline, “Campus Sexual Assault: Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino Are Fighting Back—And Shaping the National Debate.”
November 2015
On Nov. 5, 2014, a Charlottesville, Va., jury ruled that Rolling Stone engaged in defamation with a 9,000-word account in 2014 on an alleged rape victim--who was found to have made up the whole thing.
In the run-up to the presidential 2016 election, @HillaryClinton posted a message that “Every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed, and supported.” The issue of survivors of sexual assault would become a key galvanizing theme as she faced Republican candidate Donald Trump.
December 2015
Amber Heard appeared on the James Corden show, alleging later in court that she had to put on makeup to cover up injuries allegedly inflicted by Depp.
Heard allegesdthat she had two black eyes, a spilt lip and had clumps of hair missing.
The show was recorded during the afternoon of Dec. 16, 2015. Heard had texted “Nurse Erin” to say she thought she would be home by 6:30 p.m.
From Amber's statements:
144. I was supposed to be appearing as a guest on “The Late Late Show” hosted by James Corden, the next day. My face was all bruised and I was very shaken up and upset, so I texted my publicist Jodi Gottlieb just before midnight that night saying I might not be able to make it, that I was bruised and might have one or two black eyes, and I would have to see how things were looking in the morning. I pretended that I had had an accident. I didn’t want to tell her what had happened to me. I exhibit a copy of our text exchange at AH 1 page 33.
145. That night and the next day were really hard. I ended up deciding to do the show because I didn’t think I could cancel at the last minute. I remember being in pain and had some difficulty getting ready. I remember they put a lot of makeup on me to cover the bruises and I wore red lipstick to properly cover up my bleeding lip. I remember it hurt when they did my hair. I was really upset all day. But I just got on with it and did my job.
Source: UK Court Documents,
- NGN Closing Appendix 3
- Amber Heard Witness Statement 01
During the marriage, Depp told Heard that he was a victim of domestic violence. It became a central issues in court — and in society, as many people came to see men as possible victims too.
During that encounter, Heard said: “I did not hurt you. I did not punch you. I was hitting you.”
PHASE 3: #BELIEVEHER
2016
May 2016
In a sworn declaration requesting a temporary restraining order, Amber Heard alleged that Depp threw a cellphone at her, which she said struck her in the eye and the cheek. The Associated Press said she submitted a photo to the court of her bruised face with her request for a restraining order.
On May 24, 2016, an attorney for Heard sent Depp’s attorneys a list of demands.
June 1, 2016 — People magazine cover
On June 1, 2016, People Magazine published a cover story with a photo of Amber Heard, eyes downcast in a sullen portrait, with the headline: “JOHNNY DEPP & AMBER HEARD. INSIDE THEIR TOXIC MARRIAGE. Jealous fights & accusations of violence — Why they’re divorcing after 15 months.”
The story took off. On June 11, 2016, at 9:11 a.m., Entertainment Weekly @EW shared the news with a post on Twitter: “Amber Heard, Johnny Depp divorce and abuse claims investigated in new @PEOPLE cover story.”
There were early skeptics.
Readers have become even more skeptical about People Magazine’s role in furthering Heard’s narrative unfairly. @Nibs56139211 wrote, “WE SEE YOU-@people…#JusticeForJohnnyDepp.”
The issue of the photo and what it proved became a central part of the Virginia court case over defamation.
On June 1, 2016, Chessy Prout’s family sued St Paul’s School after the case of New Hampshire v. Owen Labrie. Steven J. Kelly was the lead attorney. Other attorneys were Steve Silverman and Chuck Douglas.
The complaint, Prout/Doe v. St Paul, was reported on by Concord Monitor reporter Jeremy Blackman, Vice Media’s Susan Zalkind, NBC Today Show’s Chelsea Danbury before school officials had been served. School officials said in sworn affidavit that the local journalist, Jeremy Blackman, got the complaint from “a source.” Amanda Grady Sexton or Laura L Dunn.
In 2017, the National Crime Victim Law Institute, based in Portland, Ore., published an article, headlined, “Pretrial Publicity: Friend and Foe,” that stated:
“Pretrial publicity can present both challenges and opportunities for crime victims and the attorneys who represent them.”
It interviewed Amanda Grady Sexton, director of public affairs for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, and Steve Kelly, a partner at the law firm of Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin, White in Baltimore, Md.
‘Hill Impact’
In June 2016, publicist Dan Hill started Hillimpact.com a government affairs and public relations criss management company.
His website today states, “His pro bono work largely focuses on giving a voice to survivors of abuse.” It also states: “In 10 years we helped launch 6 successful charities & causes and dozens of survivors.”
The firm represented or had close associations with advocates of women as survivors, including:
Chessy Prout, who had accused Owen Labrie of sexual assault in New Hampshire.
PAVE www.shatteringthesilence.org, which was also part of White House Task Force.
Laura L. Dunn Esq and SurvJustice
Amanda Grady Sexton and NHCADSV
In a public battle later with a journalist, Hill wrote:
I dedicated much of my adult life to advocating for survivors of sexual assault. Whether it’s serving on the sexual assault advisory committee for the Peace Corps, volunteering at the Network for Victim Recovery, or helping individuals such as boxer/MMA fighter Heather Hardy, teen author Chessy Prout or victims of Harvey Weinstein tell their stories – my life is dedicated to giving survivors a voice. Most of my work in this area is pro bono.
The Emily Doe victim impact statement is read to Congress. Rep. Ann Kuster stated “We are all Emily Doe”
The Concord Monitor reported on Jan. 31, 2017:
When sexual assault survivor Chessy Prout shed her anonymity on national television last summer, U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster watched with admiration and respect for the 17-year-old, Kuster recalled in a phone interview Friday.
Two months earlier, [Prout] had broken her silence to her family and the world about the sexual abuse she had suffered as a young woman.
…Since that initial conversation, Kuster and Prout have teamed up with other survivors for what they hope will be the first of many events – including one at a later date in New Hampshire – to increase public awareness about sexual violence on school campuses. “Shattering the Silence: A Conversation at the Capitol to Change the Culture and Prevent Sexual Violence” will be held Wednesday night at the U.S. Capitol, and will feature a panel discussion with Prout and two other survivors: Delaney Henderson and Julia Dixon.
Prout, Henderson and Dixon are ambassadors for the nonprofit organization Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, which works both to help rape survivors and prevent sexual assaults.
Prout revealed her identity more than two years after she was assaulted by Owen Labrie in a mechanical room at St. Paul’s School in Concord. After a high-profile trial that included three days of Prout’s testimony, a jury convicted Labrie of statutory rape but cleared him of the most serious felony sexual assault charges. He is appealing his convictions and seeking a new trial.
When Prout told her story on the Today show in August, she launched a social media campaign #IHaveTheRightTo in partnership with PAVE. That campaign has generated global participation with more than 4 million online interactions to date, PAVE Founder Angela Rose said in an interview Monday.
On Jan. 11, 2018, Prout attended a Hill Impact event at the Hamilton Loft with Hill and others.
June 2016
On June 2, 2016, Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail followed by three years of probation. Turner was released on Sept. 2, 2016.
Dauber campaign against Brock Turner refererencs
At 4:12 AM Eastern Time, on June 6, 2016, Stanford law professor Michele Dauber posted a tweet with a photo of a letter that Leslie Rasmussen, a high school friend of Brock Turner’s, had written to the judge to consider during sentencing.
In the letter, Rasmussen tried to speak about the drunken party culture that colleges and universities market. She acknowledged it wasn’t politically correct to say, but she noted that “rape on campuses isn’t always because people are rapists.” “It is because these universities market themselves as the biggest party schools in the country.”
She said: “These are idiot boys and girls having too much to drink and not being aware of their surroundings and having clouded judgment.”
The tweet was retweeted 605 times and liked 505 times.
The backlash against Rasmussen was immediate. At 4:18 AM ET, a Twitter user wrote: “omg the more I read this the more I want this a$$hole in jail also. what the f*ckity f*ck.”
Later, Dauber was criticized for her outing Rasmussen.
Another attorney joined the campaign against Rasmussen.
Others joined the pile-on.
On June 7, 2016, Bustle’s Suzannah Weiss published a column on the myths in Rasmussen’s letter.
The Twitter mob went after the wrong Leslie Rasmussen @Leslie_Ras — not the handle of the letter writer but rather an academic in public relations.
A political science academic joined the public shaming.
Rasmussen released a statement.
Rasmussen’s band lost bookings.
@BuzzfeedNews claimed that Rasmussen retracted her statement. But she hadn’t. She just tried to explain her position. It didn’t matter to her detractors.
The New York Times wrote a story.
CNN reported on Rasmussen.
Rasmussen’s band lost bookings at music festivals.
Dauber leads judge recall campaign
Meanwhile, Stanford law professor Michele Dauber was doing the rounds, aiming to recall the judge who presided over the Stanford sexual assault case.
On June 8, 2016, Amy Goodman, a host on Democracy Now!, a self-described liberal media outlet, interviewed Dauber, with a dateline of “Stanford, CA,” on the screen. Dauber laid out her plans on the recall campaign and said that this was a position she had to take as a progressive, liberal Democrat.
‘We are all Emily Doe’
On June 22, 2016, Rep. Annie Kuster @AnnMcLaneKuster said, “We are all Emily Doe,” in remarks on the U.S. House of Representatives. She told her story of alleged sexual assault while a college student, and then later, at 23, by a “distinguished guest” of the U.S. Congress.
The bias was against men. She said: “We will fight for consequences for the 3% of men in our communities and our college campuses who are sexual predators and a menace to women everywhere.”
She continued: “Every student deserves to be safe. Every student deserves to be secure — to live her life and to live her future. So remember tonight, we are all Emily Doe.”
July 2016
In July 2016, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen introduced the “Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act,” a federal bill of rights for sexual assault survivors. It mentioned only women as survivors. President Obama signed the bill into legislation a year later. TK Steve Kelly had lobbied for it before in 2014.
October 2016
In October 2016, Chessy Prout started her Twitter account @Chessy_Prout, and describes herself as cofounder of IHaveTheRightTo.org and the author of the book, “I Have the Right To,” coauthored by a Washington Post investigative reporter Jenn Abelson @JennAbelson. Prout’s press contact, as of May 2022, is Dan Hill, reachable at Dan@HillImpact.com
Amanda Grady Sexton had been on her re-election campaign committee and Politico named her one of the most politically active people in New England and one of the most desirable endorsements by any presidential candidate.
Precision Strategies
Precision Strategies brags about work it did in 2016 for the ACLU, among its “successes.”
In 2016, states across the country were taking steps to reform the criminal justice system, focusing on addressing the root cause of crime. Oklahoma, however, still had the second highest incarceration rate in the country and the highest for women. Working closely with ACLU, Precision helped conceptualize, launch, and manage a multi-million dollar ballot initiative campaign, urging voters to approve State Questions 780 and 781 — to reduce Oklahoma’s prison population and invest taxpayer resources into rehabilitation and treatment programs.
Additionally, Precision Strategies bragged:
We developed a dozen op-eds published in key outlets across the state, secured hundreds of media placements, and helped generate supportive editorials from the state’s most influential media outlets.
The “phone incident”
Heard alleged Johnny Depp had thrown a phone at her, bruising her face. According to courtroom testimony, she immediately called her publicist, Jodi Gottlieb.
Audrie & Daisy: #StopTheShame
On Oct. 21, 2016, Netflix promoted “Audrie & Daisy,” a new documentary with the hashtag #StopTheShame, on its official YouTube channel.
Netflix wrote:
Social media can be fraught with bullying and harassment, but it can also be a source of support. Daisy Coleman and Delaney Henderson from the Netflix Original Documentary Audrie & Daisy are joined by those who've faced online bullying to share their stories and spread a message of support. #StopTheShame
November 2016 — Glamour Women of the Year
On Nov. 14, 2016, Amber Heard attended Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year 2016 awards ceremony at NeueHouse Hollywood, a local venue in Los Angeles. She posed for a selfie with Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, who was getting an award, and actresses Gabourey Sidibe, Freida Pinto and Lena Dunham.
Behind them was signage for the event’s sponsors: Glamour, Condé Nast and L’Oreal.
According to media coverage at the time, Heard helped honor the Stanford sexual assault victim at the Glamour awards ceremony.
On the Friday, before Nov. 24, 2016, Amber Heard released a new two-minute video.
The actress, whose own abuse allegations against ex-husband Johnny Depp made headlines earlier this year, teamed up with the #GirlGaze Project to create an emotionally-charged PSA released Friday. In the two-minute video, the actress speaks directly to the camera, often fighting back tears, as she describes in great detail the "shame" she felt through her experience.
"I guess there was a lot of shame attached to that label of 'victim,'" Heard explained. "It happens to so many women. When it happens in your home, behind closed doors, with someone you love, it's not as straightforward. If a stranger did this it would be a no-brainer."
It continued:
In the PSA, Amber continued, "As a women having gone through this in the public stage, in the public arena that I did it in, I have a unique opportunity to remind other women that this doesn't have to be the way it is. You don't have to do it alone. You're not alone, and we can change this."
She continued:
"Speak up, speak up. Raise your voice, your voice is the most powerful thing and we, together, as women standing shoulder to shoulder cannot and will not any longer accept silence," Amber concluded her message.
2017
February 2017
On Feb. 3, 2017, Sommers did an interview on YouTube with attorney and author Stuart Taylor, author of a book about the “death of due process.”
September 2017
On Sept. 22, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights issued a new “Dear Colleague” letter rescinding the 2011 letter.
October 2017
On Oct. 5, 2017, New York Times reporters Jodi Cantor and Megan Twohey published an article, headlined, “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades.” Actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd spoke about sexual assault by Weinstein. On Oct. 8, 2017, the Weinstein Company fired Weinstein, amid the allegations.
Oct. 10, 2017, the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow published allegations from 13 additional women, including rape accusations.
On Oct. 15, 2017, at 4:21 p.m., actress Alyssa Milano posted a tweet with #MeToo.
Fox News reported:
Lawyer Lanny Davis is defending Weinstein, which is great because Davis has experience in defending important people from sexual abuse allegations – most prominently President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Also advising Weinstein is Democratic powerhouse PR firm SKDKnickerbocker Managing Director and former Obama White House Communications Director Anita Dunn.
SKDK ran interference for Planned Parenthood when undercover videos inside the organization hit the media last year. SKDK also ran promotions for the Women’s March against Donald Trump’s inauguration this past January, where Ashley Judd was a prominent speaker. SKDK insists Weinstein is not a client in any capacity, which is technically true, as Dunn has stated she is advising Weinstein pro-bono. That’s neat.Later, in May 2022, New Yorker writer Ken Auletta published a book: “Hollywood ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence.”
December 2017
In a blog article headlined, “Anita Hill says Thomas, Weinstein part of arc toward justice,” the National Women’s Law Center wrote:
Anita Hill told a room full of entertainment industry professionals that her 1991 testimony about Clarence Thomas and the flood of sexual harassment allegations surfacing now are part of “an arc that had been bending toward justice.”
Hill and National Women’s Law Center President Fatima Goss Graves spoke to Hollywood actors and executives Friday about how to parlay the momentum generated by the Harvey Weinstein revelations into lasting social change.
The tags were “Sexual Harassment in the Workplace” and “Workplace Justice.”
2018
The National Women’s Law Center is the sole member of the National Women’s Law Center Fund LLC, which was organized in D.C. in 2018, according to the center’s financial documents.
Jan. 1, 2018 — Time’s Up founded
According to historical archives, the Time's Up movement was founded on January 1, 2018, by about 300 Hollywood celebrities, “with the goal of connecting those who experience sexual misconduct in the workplace or in trying to advance their careers with legal and public relations assistance.” The summary also said: “As of June 2018, Time's Up had raised $21 million for its legal defense fund and gathered over 200 volunteer lawyers.”
With the start of the new year 2018, the Time’s Up Foundation launched, with none other than SKDK, and its bevy of Obama and Biden administration supporters, running its PR. The National Women’s Law Center, around since 1981, announced it would run the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. By June 2018, Time’s Up had raised a whopping $21 million for its legal defense fund. In its latest 2020 IRS 990 filing, Time’s Up Foundation said it had $18.4 million in total revenue. In its latest 2019 IRS 990 filing, Time’s Up Now Inc. said it had $1.7 million in total revenue, with former Obama staffer Valerie Jarrett on its board.
February 2018
Stanford law professor Michele Dauber claimed that she had received a “rape threat” and white powder. She did an interview on ABC7 News Bay Area.
In February 2018, Evan Rachel Wood testified to Congress to extend the Victims Bill of Rights.
According to a Glamour story published on Nov. 27, 2018, “several months earlier” Heard met Amanda Nguyen, founder of Rise. The article said:
“I’ve never seen someone as fired up as Amber,” says 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Rise founder Amanda Nguyen, who helped create The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights. The two met in New York several months ago. “It was supposed to be an hour-long dinner—it turned into six,” she recalls. “We discussed at length the process of how bills become law, how a coalition builds, how to shape your narrative to persuade people from different aisles. It really does go beyond showing up at events. Amber has a true desire to learn how to change the laws and change the world.”
On Feb. 22, 2018, Riveted by Simon Teen, a website “where teen readers and fans of young adult literature can read books for FREE, discover their new favorite stories, connect with authors, and more,” posted a YouTube video promoting a book by Chessy Prout, called “I Have The Right To.”
The video repeated the statistic presented by Center for Public Integrity years earlier but discounted as not well-documented: “Nearly one in five girls ages fourteen to seventeen has been the victim of as sexual assault to attempted sexual assault. This is the true story of one of those girls.”
The headline for the video was, “A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault.”
Prout got endorsements from:
Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH) — “Chessy embodies the inspiration and the courage to rise up…”
Angela Rose, founder of PAVE, Promoting Awareness/Victim Empowerment, who said: “Chessy Prout is an inspirational role model…a survivor and thriver….”
The hashtag campaign for this book was #IHaveARightTo.
April 2018
In April 2018, Ronan Farrow and the New York Times’ Jodi Cantor and Megan Twohey won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for their reporting on Weinstein.
June 2018
On June 1, 2018, Depp sued News Group Newspapers, the company that publishes The Sun, for alleged libel over an article published in the tabloid newspaper in April 2018, with the headline: “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?” Depp lost the case.
Judge recalled
County voters recalled judge Persky, who oversaw the Brock Turner case, on June 5, 2018, in a campaign led by Stanford law professor Michele Dauber.
PHASE 4: ‘DAMN THE TORPEDOES’
September 2018
On Sept. 8, 2018, a YouTube user, Eric Victorino Osborne, posted a video with the headline, “Michele Dauber introduces Enough is Enough.”
He wrote:
Enough Is Enough Voter Project was founded by Stanford Professor Michele Dauber to recall Judge Aaron Persky for his handling of the Brock Turner rape case. After that unprecedented success, EIEVP has turned its attention to any politician standing between sexual assault survivors and justice.
The next day, on Sept. 9, 2018, @independentpublicrelations posted four photos of Amber Heard arriving at Canada’s Toronto Film Festival, several on the red carpet.
Two days later, on Sept. 11, 2018, @independentpublicrelations posted a staged photo of Heard on the phone, smiling at the camera, during an “Annual Charity Day” fundraiser at Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment house that lost many employees during the 9/11 attacks.
On Sept. 25, 2018, at 6:01 p.m., @AmberHeard shared a story by Washington Post columnist Michael Rosenwald:
“and we wonder why victims choose to remain silent..... #BelieveWomen https://washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/11/24/rewatching-joe-bidens-disastrous-anita-hill-hearing-a-sexual-harassment-inquistion/?utm_term=.7819ceb1543a… #BelieveSurvivors”
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A Glamour article later said:
Her perspective, coupled with President Trump’s election, added fuel to her passion for activism. “My job provides me with a platform,” she says. “Silence is complacency.” And the people in the trenches have noticed her efforts. “I’ve never seen someone as fired up as Amber,” says 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Rise founder Amanda Nguyen, who helped create The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights. The two met in New York several months ago. “It was supposed to be an hour-long dinner—it turned into six,” she recalls. “We discussed at length the process of how bills become law, how a coalition builds, how to shape your narrative to persuade people from different aisles. It really does go beyond showing up at events. Amber has a true desire to learn how to change the laws and change the world.”
Sept. 27, 2018: Hearing Christine Blasey Ford
Glamour wrote later in the year:
And in September, like most of us, Heard watched Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I was in my hotel room in New York, and I was immediately nailed to the floor in a puddle of tears,” she says. “We as women took a collective punch to the gut.”
Rep. Annie Kuster, who had spoken exclusively of women as victims, joined the call to investigate Kavanaugh.
At 9:40 a.m., the New York Times’ reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg posted a photo of Democratic lawmakers from the the U.S. House of Representatives with the message:“Democratic women of the House marching to Kavanaugh confirmation vote. Echoes of Anita Hill.”
October 2018
Glamour wrote later in the year about Heard:
A week later she joined Rise and a group of survivors in D.C. to appeal to Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, the only Republican on the committee who lobbied for an FBI investigation into Ford’s allegations. “It took a moment for him to realize I did not want a selfie with him,” she says. “I thanked him. I told him that in my life I have done the unpopular thing: go up against a powerful system. It takes grace and bravery; it can feel lonely and terrifying.” A week later Sen. Flake voted to confirm Kavanaugh. “He chose not to face it, I guess. And the results are…,” her voice wavers. “I guess you can see the results.”
At 1:14 p.m., on Oct. 4, 2018, Heard posted a photo of herself with the American flag at the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, writing: “Here in DC to make our voices heard. We hope @JeffFlake and other representatives of our voices continue to hear the deafening cries from so many of us.” She earned 789 likes, 103 retweets and one reply, “YES MY QUEEN!”
At 6:39 p.m., Heard posted a photo of herself from her @RealAmberHeard Twitter account, saying, “Thank you @JeffFlake for giving so many voices the dignity of considering their truth as legitimate as his. I hope you keep thinking about the world your daughter will inherit #BelieveWomen.”
In a Facebook post, Stanford law professor Michele Dauber posted a video with Amber Heard supporting her organization, Enough is Enough Voter Project.
Dauber wrote:
"Actor and domestic abuse survivor Amber Heard stands with Enough Is Enough Voter Project against any abusers in office -- violence against women is a voting issue. Help us today! https://secure.actblue.com/donate/enoughisenoughvoter."
She called Heard a "domestic abuse survivor" and directed donations to ActBlue, a platform for causes supported by the Democratic Party.
November 2018 — Gerry Johnson
On Nov. 6, 2018, ACLU’s communications staffer Gerry Johnson sent an email, pitching the idea of an op-ed by Heard, to two people:
Jodi Gottlieb at Independent Public Relations;
Jessica Weitz, the ACLU’s director of artist engagement.
Johnson copied four people. Three were at Independent Public Relations:
Rachel Wesolowski, public relations director from May 2012 through March 2020, and now a public relations executive at CBS Studios, working with celebrities, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Natasha Dubin-Collatos, publicist from May 2018 through February 2021, now vice president at Roger’s and Cowan, a publicity firm in Los Angeles, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Megan Hull, , according to her LinkedIn profile. One worked at the ACLU: Ana Blinder, tk
On her LinkedIn profile, Wesolowski brags about the work for “A-List actors,” including Amber Heard.
She writes her accomplishments include “client campaigns” for celebrities including “Amber Heard (Aquaman),” released in December 2018 with the publication of Heard’s op-ed.
“Created strategic press and awards campaigns for various client initiatives that resulted in multiple Oscar, Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe nominations.”
“Client campaigns included Claire Danes (Homeland); Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad); Alison Brie (Glow); Hank Azaria (IFC's Brockmire); Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley); Cobie Smulders (Stumptown); Amber Heard (Aquaman).”
“Secured national and international media placements with top-tier outlets.” The Washington Post is considered a “top-tier” outlet.
Nov. 16, 2018 — DeVos proposed rule
At 10:39 a.m., on Nov. 16, 2018, the ACLU communications staffers posted an angry Twitter thread from the official @ACLU account, saying, “We advocate for fair school disciplinary processes that uphold the rights of both parties in campus sexual assault and harassment cases. Today Secretary DeVos proposed a rule that would tip the scales against those who raise their voices. We strongly oppose it.”
It got 7,001 likes and 2,734 retweets.
Nov. 24, 2018 — Dartmouth #MeToo
In an article in the New Hampshire Union Leader, “#MeToo blitz for Dartmouth: Publicity blitz may not help their case, but it could help their cause,” reporter Todd Feathers wrote:
For more than a year after a group of female psychology students organized to file complaints of sexual harassment against three Dartmouth College professors, they remained publicly quiet about their experiences.
The school launched and concluded an internal investigation, the Attorney General’s office initiated a criminal probe, and the three professors — Todd Heatherton, William Kelley and Paul Whalen — resigned or retired. But beyond hints of sexual misconduct and a predatory culture in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, the public received scant information about how many victims there were, who they were, or what happened to them.
On Nov. 15, the women’s strategy shifted. In preparation for filing a class action lawsuit against Dartmouth, six of the seven plaintiffs engaged in a coordinated media blitz.
A public relations firm helped arrange their interviews. Professional pictures of the women were made available upon request. And their stories, including accusations of groping, lewd messages and rape, appeared in dozens of media reports, from small local newspapers to national outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
The seemingly abrupt shift from quiet to outspoken, is part of a larger trend, during the #MeToo era of sexual assault and harassment victims speaking out, according to attorneys who handle the cases. But when the accusations involve a powerful institution with a reputation to defend, they say, it remains a risky approach.
Feathers wrote about Times Up and said:
At the beginning of this year, the National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit, founded the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. In addition to financial assistance for primarily low-income women who want to pursue sexual harassment cases, it also gives public relations grants.
Emily Martin, vice president for education and workplace justice at the NWLC, said many women have taken advantage of the aid to make their stories public.
Steve Kelly, an attorney at Sanford Heisler Sharp , represents the victims at Dartmouth. In 2016, Kelly represented student Chessy Prout in her civil lawsuit against St. Paul’s School.
Nov. 27, 2018 — Glamour: ‘…Heard is Nobody’s Victim’
Glamour’s Phoebe Reilly wrote a story, saying:
Heard never utters her ex’s name during our conversation. “I’ve seen her rise from such despair and darkness,” says longtime friend Amanda de Cadenet, founder of Girlgaze, a digital platform for female creatives, for which Heard contributed an emotional PSA shortly before her divorce was finalized. “There’s a lot of shit she can’t talk about.” Heard does, however, speak to what it means to be a survivor in the broader sense. “When a woman comes forward, she will be met with skepticism, hostility, and shame,” she says. “All a man has to do is point to an incentive. He will. Or society will.”
The article featured a photo of Heard holding three books, including “White Fragility,” and a slick video with sultry poses.
Heard tipped her hat to Stanford law professor Michelle Dauber, saying:
When I ask her to name someone whose career she admires, she steers the conversation away from actors to people like Palestinian American activist Yasmeen Mjalli, who’s bringing the #MeToo movement to the West Bank, and Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber, who supported “Emily Doe” in the Stanford rape case. “It’s those women who deserve the spotlight,” she says. “I am humbled just to amplify their voices.”
The Glamour story got reprinted all over the place:
“Amber Heard Opens Up About Domestic Abuse—and Refuses to Mention Johnny Depp. The Acquaman [sic] star opened up about the topic to Glamour, by Elyse Dupre, published at EOnline at 11:23 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2018.
“Amber Heard says abuse survivors are shamed for coming forward,” by Lindsey Kupfer, published at Page Six at 4:16 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2018, with a glam photo of Heard and a copy of the cover.
On Nov. 29, 2018, the Department of Education published in the Federal Register proposed regulations to replace the rescinded documents and solicited public comment on them.
Dec. 12, 2018 - PR: ‘Dam the torpedoes ahead!’
On Dec 12, 2018, at 9:32 A.M, Sean T. Walsh «swalsh@wwgrconsulting.com> wrote:
I think Eric's edits still get us 95 percent of what you want ...I say send it off and dam the torpedoes ahead!
Sent from my iPhone
Dec. 18, 2018 — Published
On Dec. 18, 2018, the Washington Post published the fateful op-ed that the jury now ruled was defamation, with policy recommendations on Title IX, the Violence Against Women Act and, of course, Heard as a survivor of domestic violence. The narrative was set. There was only one little thing missing: a conviction.
Dec. 27, 2018 — ACLU promoted the op-ed
The ACLU republished the piece on its blog, noting, “By Amber Heard, ACLU Ambassador for Women’s Rights.”
The tags were: “Sexual Violence in Schools,” “Violence Against Women” and “Women’s Rights.” The banner said, “Speak Freely.”
We have an opening now to bolster and build institutions protective of women. For starters, Congress can reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act. First passed in 1994, the act is one of the most effective pieces of legislation enacted to fight domestic violence and sexual assault. It creates support systems for people who report abuse, and provides funding for rape crisis centers, legal assistance programs and other critical services. It improves responses by law enforcement, and it prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ survivors. Funding for the act expired in September and has only been temporarily extended.
We should continue to fight sexual assault on college campuses, while simultaneously insisting on fair processes for adjudicating complaints. Last month, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposed changes to Title IX rules governing the treatment of sexual harassment and assault in schools. While some changes would make the process for handling complaints more fair, others would weaken protections for sexual assault survivors. For example, the new rules would require schools to investigate only the most extreme complaints, and then only when they are made to designated officials. Women on campuses already have trouble coming forward about sexual violence — why would we allow institutions to scale back supports?
February 2019
March 2019
Johnny Depp filed a lawsuit of defamation against Amber Heard in Fairfax County, Va.
April 2019
In the motion filed in the Circuit Court of Fairfax, Virginia, Heard describes in new detail more than a dozen instances before and during their marriage when she says Depp slapped her, shoved her, pulled her hair or choked her. Depp has denied any such abuse. The allegations have appeared in the couple’s divorce and other legal fights.
“Johnny Depp physically and verbally abused Amber Heard,” her attorney Eric George said in a statement. “Since their divorce, Mr. Depp has continued to publically harass Ms. Heard, and attempted to gaslight the world by denying his abuse. It is long past time for Mr. Depp’s despicable conduct to end.”
Depp’s lawyer said Friday, as the original lawsuit did, that Heard’s allegations are false and it was in fact she who was abusive to him.”
Barresi said he was first hired on July 8, 2019, and a week later told George that he was in touch with former porn actress Traci Lords, who had also starred with Depp in the 1990 film Cry Baby. George’s emailed reply: “Perfect re Traci.”
Another email, dated July 27, 2019, was sent to Barresi by Richard Schwartz, an attorney working with George.
That missive stated: “I spoke with Amber, and she thinks that it would be worth going further into the Viper Room-related dealings, so her wish is my command. Please continue to look into JD’s behavior [prioritizing not to the exclusion of other investigations, incidents where JD was personally involved].”
But despite months of trawling, Barresi failed to find anyone willing to dish credible dirt on Depp – and in the fall of 2019, Heard removed George from her legal team.ugust 2019.
August 2019
September 2019
The Washington Post tweeted out: “Her name is Chanel Miller, not “unconscious intoxicated woman” in the Stanford assault case,” with a link to an article by reporter Marisa Iati.
Jodi Cantor released book, ‘She Said’
Tagged @RiseNowUS, UN Against Sexual Violence in Conflict @EndRapeInWar and @EUatUN.
Retweeted by @RealAmberHeard
October 2019
Folks like @Sarah_Zarin didn’t buy the @ACLU promoting Heard’s Teen Vogue column. She wrote: “ACLU is a fraud organization…#AmberHeardIsAnAbuser.”
November 2019 — In the New York Times
On Nov. 4, 2019, the New York Times published a 1,600-word column by Amber Heard, headlined, “Only a federal law can help stop ‘revenge porn.’”
That day, Nov. 4, 2019, at 6 a.m., CyberCivilRights.org published an article, “CCRI Ambassador Amber Heard Supports Federal Bill Against Nonconsensual Porn,” reprinting the New York Times op-ed.
Amber Heard weighed in on the college sexual assault debate again.
In late November 2019, Amber Heard promoted a new memoir by Channel Miller, the Stanford University student who was sexually assaulted.
December 2019
In early Dec. 2, 2019, Amber Heard retweeted with an “Amen!” a Twitter post that said, “If I say I was raped, but not by whom, you’ll say it can’t be proven. If I say his name, you’ll say it violates due process.”
On Dec. 10, 2019, Glamour senior beauty editor Lindsay Schallon wrote another positive profile in the magazine of Amber Heard, titled, “Amber Heard is Fighting Social Justice in Red Lipstick.”
Schallon wrote:
If anyone knows that caring about skin care and social justice aren't mutually exclusive, it's Amber Heard. The actor and activist makes as many headlines for the L'Oréal Paris ads she stars in as she does for her work with civil rights organizations.
Asked, “What's the best book you've read lately?” Heard answered:
I just read She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey [the reporters who broke the explosive report about Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment allegations], and it was insanely good. Spectacular. It's detail-oriented, specific, biting, and smart. And it really champions the truth and highlights the crucial role journalism can play in our world, especially when it's done correctly and not encumbered by the systems in place to protect those who are abusing positions of power. When [those systems] are challenged or circumnavigated and truth can come out, what a difference it makes.
Asked who inspires her, Amber Heard said:
Another person who never ceases to amaze me is Amanda Nguyen and her [civil rights] organization Rise. I'm constantly impressed by Mary Anne Franks and Holly Jacobs, and the work they do in the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. I'm lucky to be working with them on passing legislation that would make it a federal crime to distribute [nonconsenual] pornography. I mentioned Jodi and Megan earlier, the pair of investigative journalists who broke the Weinstein story, despite all odds and obstacles. I love what they're standing for.
Heard ended:
As I continue to surround myself more with activists and philanthropists, people who are the doers in this world, I'm continually amazed. Our world is so ripe with heroes, and so many of them are ones you've never heard of. I continue to be humbled by my small place in this army of female voices that are really committed to changing the world.
2020
February 2020
Glamour’s promotion of Heard was earning some backlash.
On Feb. 24, 2020, a jury found Weinstein guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and third-degree rape.
March 2020
On March 11, 2020, at 8:29 p.m., @SurvJustice, founded by campus activist Laura Dunn in 2014, wrote: “Dear SurvJustice friends and supporters: We write to share the sad news that SurvJustice has ceased operations.”
It noted that since its founding in 2014, it had secured “some measure of justice for so many.”
May 2020
On May 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education finalized its campus sexual assault Title IX regulations largely as proposed, including several provisions guaranteeing respondents important procedural safeguards.
In May 2020, the ACLU went to court to fight over Title IX, noting on its website:
On May 14, 2020, the ACLU Women’s Rights Project and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Maryland on behalf of plaintiffs Know Your IX, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Girls for Gender Equity, and Stop Sexual Assault in Schools, challenging several provisions of the U.S. Department of Education’s newly issued Title IX rule under the Administrative Procedure Act.
In 2013, Alexander Brodsky cofounded “Know Your IX.”
According to its 2015 990, NoVo gave Advocates for Youth $50,000 for a program, “Know Your IX,” According to its 2016 990, NoVo gave Advocates for Youth $25,000 for its program, “Know Your IX.” In its 2018 990, NoVo gave the nonprofit $75,000 toward “program support” for “Know Your IX.”
June 2020
In court documents obtained by The Blast in June 2020, a team of lawyers — including Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund co-founder Roberta Kaplan — filed to withdraw from Heard’s case, with her endorsement.
“Ms. Heard does not object to the withdrawal of withdrawing counsel and has endorsed the proposed order granting leave to withdraw,” the document stated.
The court document also stated that the Aquamanactress had “retained the services of another trial counsel licensed in Virginia, Elaine Bredehoft.”
According to a court filing:
“The undersigned moves for entry of an order permitting Robert Kaplan, John Quinn, Julie Fink, Davida Brook to withdraw as counsel of record for Defendant Amber Laura Heard.”
July 2020
@UN_Women campaign #GenerationEquality
On July 11, 2020, Dartmouth University agreed to a $14 million settlement with a group of women students, including Kristina Rapuno, who alleged sexual abuse on campus. After payouts to women impacted and lawyers, funds were going to the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, according to the final order approving the settlement.
On July 22, 2020, Amber Heard last shared a @TimesUpNow tweet,
August 2020
In early August 2020, Daisy Coleman, a young woman in the Netflix documentary, “Audrie and Daisy,” died by suicide. Her friend, Audrie Pott, died by suicide eight years earlier.
On Aug. 18, 2020, Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster posted a photo with three other women, one of them Amber Heard, and regaled the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
September 2020
On Sept. 15, 2020, @TasteOfSanity posted photos of Amber Heard wearing a #TimesUp hat and alleged she was “weaponizing the #MeToo movement….” Indelicately, the Twitter user ended, “Absolutely fuck her.”
Four days later, on Sept. 19, 2020, Har posted a tweet, saying “So proud of the unstoppable force that is @KaplanRobbie - The Legal Intelligencer: Roberta Kaplan, Citing Violence Against Jews, Calls on Lawyers to ‘Make It Stop’ - Integrity First for America.”
October 2020
On Oct. 7, 2020, YouTube user “MLCortese” posted a video with Stanford law professor endorsing Dave Cortese, a Democratic candidate for California state Senate. She cited his opponent as having “stood” with the judge in the Brock Turner case, as he allegedly “named and shamed” the victim.
Cortese won in November 2020, representing District 15, which covers a majority of Santa Clara County. He was previously on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors for 12 years. Some years earlier, he was a trustee for the East Side Union High School District in San Jose.
As a board of supervisor, he formed an anti-human trafficking task force by sponsoring a resolution to allocate $850,000 between the Sheriff's office and the District Attorney's office.
November 2020
On Nov. 2, 2020, Stanford lawyer retweeted a post from Rachael Venables, sharing the news that Johnny Depp lost his High Court case in the U.K., suing the Sun newspaper for defamation over an article that called him a “wife beater” in the headline.
Dauber commented: “Court declares it is "‘substantially true’ that Johnny Depp is a ‘wife beater.’” She then added to the message: “Thank you Amber Heard for standing up.”
The next day, Nov. 3, 2020, at 3:24 p.m., Heard advocated on Twitter for “Another Girl, Another Abduction, Another Forced Conversion, Another Child Marriage.”
After a pleasant evening, Heard took to Twitter on Nov. 3, 2020, to urge folks to vote, earning special attention from the Democratic Part activists.
On Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, Depp posted a message, calling the U.K. judgment “surreal” and said it “will not change my fight to tell the truth.”
Two days later, Amber Heard celebrated Kamala Harris’ election as vice president.
2021
January 2021
In mid-January 2021, @RealAmberHeard advocated for a repeal of a ban in the military on transgender servicemen and servicewomen.
February 2021
In early February 2021, @RealAmberHeard retweeted @EqualityNow, opposing female genital mutilation in Oman.
Soon after, on Feb. 11, 2021, Heard also took an unpopular position in liberal circles supporting ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali and former New York Times opinions editor Bari Weiss.
March 2021
In mid-March 2021, Heard retweeted a message celebrating the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and passage of the Shield Act amendment, prohibiting nonconsensual pornography. The message tagged @CCRInitaitive.
April 2021
On April 1, 2021, a friend of Heard’s, Eve Barlow, wrote, “In the past day I have received more death threats and vile hatred for posting support for amber heard than I have ever received for posting about my zionism or jewish identity. and *that* is saying something. #metoo.”
The next day, on April 2, 2021, @RealAmberHeard tweeted out that it was her “honor” to “be part of the @LOrealParisUSA…family celebrating #50yearsofworth #worthit #lorealparis.”
May 2021
On May 4, 2021, Lee Fay raised issues in an article at The Intercept about potential issues with Anita Dunn, cofounder of SKDK and Biden administration consultant.
He wrote:
Dunn, an influential figure in Democratic politics, became the de facto campaign manager for Biden after his dismal showing last year in the Iowa Democratic caucus. Dunn and SKDK, formerly SKDKnickerbocker, a corporate and political consulting firm she co-founded, helped steer the Biden campaign to victory.
He noted:
SKDK’s corporate client list is largely secret. In New York, the firm releases a partial client list through state-level lobbying disclosure filings, showing work on behalf of casino company Genting New York LLC, NRG Energy, and the Greater New York Hospital Association. But many of the firm’s clients, including firms advised by Dunn, are undisclosed.
Meanwhile, Amber Heard continued to play up her humanitarian image, posting a video from 2019 in Panama, as she spoke to young children. “My mission work with UNHR is one of the most enriching parts of my life. Missing it. #UNHumanRights.”
July 2021
In July 2021, Heard announced she had a baby daughter.
August 2021 — Time’s up on #TimesUp
On Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, Time’s Up chairwoman Roberta Kaplan resigned after the New York Attorney General’s report alleged that she assisted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he faced sexual harassment charges.
Time’s Up was a project of the National Women’s Law Center, which the PR firm SKDK had represented for years. SKDK also had represented L’Oreal, Vital Voices, It’s on Us and UN Women..
Kaplan had previously represented Amber Heard.
@LillyJane916 listed Amber Heard, Harvey Weinstein, Goldman Sachs and Melissa DeRosa and wrote on Twitter: “Those are anti-victim clients we know Roberta Kaplan represented. Imagine who we don’t know about. Kaplan lied in court docs & lied to the public for these people & to cover her hypocrisy.”
On Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, the New York Times’ Jodi Kantor, Arya Sundaram and Melena Ryzik reported that Tina Tchen resigned as CEO of Time’s Up, saying:
The chief executive of Time’s Up, the prominent anti-harassment charity, resigned on Thursday, the latest fallout in a crisis that threatens the organization’s survival.
For weeks, the group has been in upheaval over what some survivors of sexual abuse have called a fundamental betrayal: Its leaders appear to have allied more closely with former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who faces sexual harassment allegations from 11 women, than with the first accusers to come forward.
Tina Tchen, who had led the group since 2019, said in a statement that her “position at the helm of Time’s Up has become a painful and divisive focal point.”
On Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, the National Women’s Law Center published a press release in which it said, “NWLC Reacts to Tina Tchen’s Resignation….”
It said:
As a first step, and to ensure that the independence of our work is clear to the survivors we serve, we will be bringing the administration of the public relations assistance function in-house and do so on a timeframe that ensures we do not disrupt the pipeline of support we are already providing to survivors.
We are grateful to the dedicated and passionate team at SKDK who worked with the Fund; they took on dozens of individual cases as well as recruited other PR professionals to the network and helped us scale PR services. Their continued commitment to finding pathways for survivors’ stories to be heard – and holding the media accountable in doing so – has been unparalleled.
The next week, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, O’Dwyer’s reported: the National Women’s Law Center “has dropped” SKDK.
September 2021
On Sept. 2, 2021, Amber Heard presented as an advocate of women’s rights, posting a photo of herself reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book, “Heretic.”
On Sept. 12, 2021, Amber Heard promoted former New York Times’ opinions editor Bari Weiss’s profile of academic Peter Boghassian, cancelled on his college campus for his anti-woke ideas.
And on Oct. 5, 2021, Heard promoted her work in Paris with her “L’Oreal sisters.”
2022
March 2022
President Biden delivered remarks at an event celebrating the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. He was joined by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Health Secretary Becerra.
April 2022 — Trial Day 1
On April 11, 2022, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced each other for jury selection.
May 2022
On May 2, 2022, Hollywood Reporter reported:
Precision Strategies, helmed by Barack Obama’s former deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, had been steering Heard’s public relations strategy. The actress, expected to take the stand for the first time on Wednesday, dropped the firm last week in favor of Shane Communications. The New York Post first reported the shake-up.
Precision Strategies had represented the ACLU, which had made Amber Heard an ambassador.
On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, at 9:42 p.m., Stanford lawyer Michele Dauber wrote, “…fuck Johnny Depp completely.”
The next day, on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 1:02 p.m., in case the point hadn’t been made, Dauber again wrote: “Fuck Johnny Depp.”
Word circulated quickly of potential alleged #MeToo accusations against Amber Heard’s new PR man, David Shane.
And a familiar name emerged to defend Amber Heard: Michele Dauber, the Stanford professor of law who had defended the young student assaulted by a Stanford swimmer.
For critics, Dauber’s defense of Heard was a political necessity. After years of creating a political narrative around the idea of #BelieveHer for every alleged victim of domestic violence and sexual assault, Dauber had to protect Heard’s narrative.
On Friday, May 13, 2022, at 11:51 a.m., Dauber shared an article at TheCut.com, asking:
“Which Women Do We Choose to Believe? Amber Heard claims an extremely famous man abused her for years. Why do so many people hate her for it?”
Dauber wrote:
“People would rather believe a drunken, drugged out fake pirate than a woman with documented bruises and witnesses, because they hate women period.”
When I responded in one tweet that her message was unprofessional, Dauber blocked me.
On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, Stanford University lawyer Michele Dauber lamented: “HOW MUCH EVIDENCE DOES A WOMAN NEED TO BE BELIEVED? This is like #MeToo never happened. Shame on the supposed #MeTOo advocates who are silent. #DARVODepp.”
At 7:40 p.m., Dauber posted another tweet, tagging @LeaveHerdAlone.
At 7:42 p.m., Dauber wrote: “And to the trolls and psycho fans I recalled a fucking judge. I could care less about your weird obsession with a drunken fake pirate. Grow the fuck up.”
‘Witch Trials’
On Saturday, May 21, 2022, in The Sunday Times, Camilla Long wrote: “It’s all so horribly familiar — Amber Heard and Rebekah Vardy are the unwitting victims of witch trials.”
She wrote:
Because make no mistake about what we are seeing: these are witch trials, complete with screaming crowds of medieval misogynists and poisonous hallmark of favouring the safe, the powerful and the rich, no matter what the evidence.
On Sunday, May 22, 2022, into Monday, May 23, 2022, a confrontation erupted in the line of people waiting for a seat in the courtroom.
It wasn’t as the @LeaveHeardAlone account claimed. The Heard fan had actually cut in line and smothered a woman who got angry with his aggression.
On Thursday, May 26, 2022, at 11:46 a.m., Guardian writer @MoiraDonegan published a tweet that the trial represented “resentment against #MeToo” designed to “draw people into the far right.” Stanford lawyer Michele Dauber retweeted the message.
A moment later, @MoiraDonegan posted another tweet deriding critics of the #MeToo as engaging in “misogynistic fantasies.”
On Thursday, May 26, 2022, @isuckatbeingag1 responded: “I’m absolutely not far right. I just see the evidence.”
On Friday, May 27, 2022, at 2:21 p.m., @LeaveHeardAlone called this a trial for “all victims.” Stanford lawyer Michele Dauber retweeted the message.
Soon after, at 3:24 p.m., on Friday, May 27, 2022, @MimasDiaries wrote in relief: “After 6 years, Johnny Depp gets to close this horrible chapter from his life.”
At 9:07 p..m., on Friday, May 27, 2022, @MarthaJRoss, a writer at the San Jose Mercury news, shared an article she had written, arguing that a Depp victory would be “worrisome for anyone invested in 1st amendment and free speech.”
On Saturday, May 28, 2022, @MeTooMVMT posted a tweet that was difficult to understand. It did not go over well with Stanford lawyer Michele Dauber.
Dauber chided @MeTooMVMT for staying silent while Heard was “forced to describer her rape on TV.”
On Sunday, May 29, 2022, at 6:03 p.m., Heard’s friend, Eve Barlow, disparaged Depp. Stanford lawyer Michele Dauber retweeted the post.
A moment later, she posted another tweet:
Soon enough, #EveBarlowIsAJoke was trending.
On Monday, May 30, 2022, @LillyJane916 posted a mashup of Depp's witnesses in a sentimental video that documented not only those who turned out for Depp but also the struggle of the ordinary person to overcome a character assassination.
On May 31, 2022, Monica Lewinsky weighed in at Vanity Fair, saying “it’s the larger implications for our culture that concern me the most: the ways we have stoked the flames of misogyny and, separately, the celebrity circus.”
A day after the verdict, Stanford law professor Michele Dauber republished the photo with Amber Heard, tagging @LeaveHeardAlone.
Dauber’s cofounder of Enough is Enough Voter Project, @EmilianaGuereca, executive director of Women’s March Action in Los Angeles, shared on Twitter a column in the Guardian by Moira Donegan, headlined, “ The Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial was an orgy of misogyny.”
Depp's team speaks
On June 8, 2022, Depp’s lawyers Camille Vasquez and Ben Chew spoke on the TODAY show. By June 13, 2022, the 7 minutes 55 seconds video had 6.9 million views.
Attack on Camille Vasquez
On YouTube, a video went up alleging Dauber was now “threatening working women for doing their jobs,” with her attack on attorney Camille Vasquez.
@Standford ‘You really need to do something about this’
Word spread on Michele Dauber’s political influence on the Amber Heard case, and Stanford University is told by one person on Twitter: “@Standford You really need to do something about this.”
The point was importantly made that Dauber was using her platform at Stanford to “push a dangerous agenda.”
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Apparently Amber Heard is not the only impostor/fraudster who has elevated/enriched herself on the backs of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. These so-called women’s rights champions have done so much harm to the cause (i.e., gender-based violence) that they claim to care so much about. It makes me sick to my stomach. Great job exposing their rank hypocrisy and idiocy, Asra!
This is a great article.
However, I am missing the photo of AH on 28.5.2016 laughing into the air with RP and Josh D - without a bruise so as to make it chrystal clear to doubters, or did I miss the image in the article?