After the defamation trial ended with Amber Heard owing millions and Johnny Depp’s legal team has already started their own appeal process, a clip has gone viral in which Camille Vasquez accidentally called Johnny Depp an abuser during the closing arguments of the trial in 2022. Now, after the clip from the trial went viral, an insider has commented about what was actually going on in the moment.
In the clip, Camille Vasquez’s comment seems to be an accident or a slip of the tongue as the crux of the rest of the speech about her client painted Depp as the person who was abused. The clip that went viral is a snippet, however, and the main moment catches her saying Amber “never thought she would have to face” before seemingly tripping over her words and finishing with “her abuser.” The clip went viral as part of a Twitter thread in support of Amber Heard.
Johnny’s girlboss lawyer has a Freudian slip and calls him an abuser. pic.twitter.com/O7jBKdTcX5August 8, 2022
The longer version of the closing video has Ms. Vasquez pointing out “there is an abuser in this courtroom, but not Mr. Depp” and notes witnesses said on the stand that her client dealt with “persistent verbal, physical and emotional abuse by Ms. Heard during their relationship.” She also touched on the impact of Amber Heard’s op ed and used additional phrasing that argued for her client. This is not part of the clip that went viral on social media.
Speaking to Newsweek, a source who is reportedly close to Camille Vasquez confirmed she was meant to say “abuse victim” in that portion of her speech. It’s not the only time the lawyer trips up in that portion of her statement in the courtroom. Shortly after in the video, Vasquez is seen tripping up again and sharing an unintended double negative when she says “she never thought she would never” before attempting to cut short the second “never” and finishing with, “have her supposed mountain of evidence vetted.” Watching the full video, you can see the part of the speech the lawyer seemed to have been struggling with a bit.
This clip has gone viral after an additional 6,000 pages of unreleased material were made public related to the trial. Amidst that material are accusations Johnny Depp dealt with erectile dysfunction during his time with Ms. Heard, as well as other accusations including one where Depp was accused by Amber Heard’s team of editing his bruises following an alleged altercation with his ex, among other evidence that did not make the courtroom.
Despite the now-viral blip, Camille Vasquez has largely been lauded for her work on the trial and reportedly received a promotion after the lion’s share of the verdict came down in favor of Johnny Depp. (Amber Heard, for her part, did win $2 million in compensatory damages related to a comment a Depp representative had previously made.) Vasquez has continued to defend the Pirates star after Amber Heard filed an appeal, stating in an interview the move by her lawyer was “expected.” Vasquez was also part of the team representing Depp in a second lawsuit that settled out of court.
