If you didn’t really follow the Johnny Depp–Amber Heard trial that closely, then you missed out on the major subplot of the case: How it’s all the ACLU’s fault.
From Glenn Greenwald:
“One fact that clearly emerged from the trial: the Amber Heard op-ed in the @washingtonpost that the jury just found defamed Johnny Depp was ghost-written by @ACLU, after Heard promised to pay them $7 million (a promise she never fulfilled). They have a lot to answer for.”
One fact that clearly emerged from the trial: the Amber Heard op-ed in the @washingtonpost that the jury just found defamed Johnny Depp was ghost-written by @ACLU, after Heard promised to pay them $7 million (a promise she never fulfilled).
They have a lot to answer for.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 1, 2022
They DO have a lot to answer for:
“(More accurately: Heard promised to pay $3.5m of her $7m settlement from Depp to the ACLU, and failed to fulfill that promise. She remains [an] ACLU Ambassador and the testimony established that the ACLU ghost-wrote considerable parts of the defamatory WPost op-ed about Depp).”
(More accurately: Heard promised to pay $3.5m of her $7m settlement from Depp to the ACLU, and failed to fulfill that promise. She remains and ACLU Ambassador and the testimony established that the ACLU ghost-wrote considerable parts of the defamatory WPost op-ed about Depp).
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 1, 2022
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Law professor Lara Bazelon, who wrote a devastating take down of the ACLU just days ago for The Atlantic, added that it’s the ACLU who is the “real loser” in the trial:
The real loser in the Heard-Depp trial is @aclu, which ghostwrote Heard's @washingtonpost op-ed–without which none of this would have happened–after Heard pledged to pay @aclu $3.5M. Just so gross. https://t.co/eN0qG6xP8D
— Lara Bazelon (@larabazelon) June 1, 2022
The ACLU attacked her over it, too:
When I pointed out in @TheAtlantic what the ACLU had done and why it was wrong, the ACLU's national legal director David Cole responded by accusing me of "bending the truth." Ironic is one word for @aclu's ad hominem attack. https://t.co/UZ6wR16915
— Lara Bazelon (@larabazelon) June 1, 2022
She added:
“If the ACLU had been representing Amber Heard, their actions would have been malpractice; at their urging she signed an op-ed they wrote that contained allegations a jury found to be false. As it is, they have embarrassed themselves and betrayed their core principles.”
If the ACLU had been representing Amber Heard, their actions would have been malpractice; at their urging she signed an op-ed they wrote that contained allegations a jury found to be false. As it is, they have embarrassed themselves and betrayed their core principles.
— Lara Bazelon (@larabazelon) June 1, 2022
They really have lost their way:
In @TheAtlantic, law professor @larabazelon argues that @ACLU — guided by huge amounts of partisan cash and a workforce that prioritizes Dem Party loyalty over civil liberties — has lost its way. Uses its bizarre role in the Depp/Heard case as a window:https://t.co/oXSf7oZqaY
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 10, 2022
Read the whole thing here:
The ACLU should be a cautionary tale for any organization tempted to chase this week's freshest outrage rather than stick consistently to its principles. It has become a complete embarrassment, and @larabazelon does a good job laying out why.https://t.co/GxpaJwZTbh
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) May 11, 2022
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