Photo Credit: Elle-Rose Thynne
Elle-Rose Thynne is an investigative journalist-in-training and Youtuber, who through in-depth analysis and informative videos, spreads awareness of not only #JusticeforJohnnyDepp, but for all male victims of domestic abuse, her father being one. In one of the most clear and interesting interviews I've witnessed, Elle-Rose was kind enough to sit on a Zoom with me and get into the nitty gritty of Justice, gender politics, and the truth.
Isabella: Thank you for working on this project with me, I am so excited to have someone who inspired me so much be a part of this! Please introduce yourself!
Elle-Rose: Hi! I’m Elle-Rose Thynne, I’m 26, living in the UK, and I’ve done numerous videos on the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard saga on Youtube for the last couple of years.
Isabella: How did you first hear about this case? What were your thoughts, and whose side did you take?
Elle-Rose: I first heard about the case on, I believe the 27th of May of 2016 when [Heard] filed the temporary restraining order. Throughout reading the news articles and media reports, I immediately did not believe her. I thought to myself “Ok, maybe I need to look elsewhere to see what is going on.” With him [Johnny] being in the public eye for so long, whether people like it or not, people can see a difference in him and in actors they admire, whether or not they actually pay attention to that actor throughout whatever it is that they’re doing. You’ll see paparazzi photos and how their appearances change and their behavior over the years and through the time period that they were with a specific partner. Because of seeing such a decline in him just from images and articles and witness sightings, I instantly thought “Ok, what we’re seeing right now, because of everything that has happened with my dad, essentially, this does not seem right. Is she falsely accusing him?” From then on, I originally thought that she had been the perpetrator in that relationship.
Isabella: Was there a change in your perspective? What piece of evidence/moment was the thing to change your mind?
Elle-Rose: I already believed him anyway, so there wasn’t really a specific thing to make me think he hadn’t done it, do you know what I mean? I think it was probably, if there was one definitive piece, when she requested spousal support. That to me was like “This is definitely... She is definitely a gold digger at this point.” She’d been with him for fifteen months, she can definitely live comfortably on her own. If somebody had been abusing you, you’d just want them gone, not still in your life. Why would you want them to be paying you money? Especially after such a short period of time? That was probably the definitive point for me where I was like “I just 100% do not believe that this [Johnny Depp being abusive] is the case.”
Isabella: What inspired you to spread awareness of this case with your Youtube channel? Do you have a video in particular that felt like the most important to make?
Elle-Rose: The video that I felt was most important to me was the one titled EIGHT Ways To Show How Amber Heard, The ACCUSER Is Actually The ABUSER . I felt it was very important to basically show how this woman had been abusive throughout all of her appearances, whenever she’d been on talk shows, and just her demeanor. I think it was really important to see that if somebody had been in an abusive situation themselves, they wouldn’t embarrass their abuser like she did on the Overhaulin’ Episode with Johnny Depp. She was play hitting him and ragging him around - that just wouldn’t have flown in an abusive relationship [where she was the victim]. Obviously, my other ones about how men are victims of domestic violence are important too, but in order for people to actually come to terms with the idea of a woman being the perpetrator of abuse, that first video was the one that was most important to me.
Isabella: I know you have spoken about your father being a victim of DV. Did that impact how you saw the case/your passion behind it?
Elle-Rose: Definitely. When I was doing these videos, it was very unheard of for people to support men in this situation, especially a woman who was defending the man and accusing the woman of being a perpetrator. Because of everything that has happened with my dad, and obviously, it was horrible, but it’s given my a very unique perspective and a unique sort of standpoint in which I can spread awareness from because, like I said, it is very strange and unheard of for someone to see a video of a woman, especially in the environment we’re in right now with the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement, speaking so passionately for a man. I think it is very important that it happened, and hopefully [my videos] will give other people a different perspective because it is very easy for someone to defend a man and be called a misogynist, but for women to stand together and defend a man in this situation, it will hit in different places and be more impactful.
Isabella: How do you feel that your perspective as a journalist has impacted your understanding of not just the case, but how it is being portrayed by the media?
Elle-Rose: It has given me a very unique look on the media and what they say and what they can get away with. Before I was in university and studying journalism, I would read an article like, say, Dan Wooten’s article and think “Why can this happen?”. Now, I’m seeing all of these nitty-gritty rules of what journalists “can” and “can’t” do and it’s quite a scary world to be a part of, and it’s quite worrying, a little bit, because I don’t want to become one of those people. That person who gets away with writing all of this bullshit because they have a tiny little loophole that can help them there. The Sun article, which they should not have gotten away with, it’s proof to other news outlets that “we can get away with this since they got away with it, because nothing will happen to us.”
Isabella: If you could say anything to people who are not convinced of Johnny’s innocence, believe Amber is not abusive, or still cling to a “mutual abuse” narrative, what would it be?
Elle-Rose: I think I would obviously start with the pivotal point in why I spoke out about this situation in the first place. I would give them my point of view of witnessing this happen to my father, how everything isn’t as it seems, and honestly - it 100% depends on if these people are defending Amber Heard because she’s a woman. In regards to mutual abuse - I do not believe that mutual abuse exists at all. I think that one person in the relationship will always hold the power or control - people can become reactively abusive and they can defend themselves, and they can end up in a toxic and volatile relationship, but there is always one person doing the abuse. Especially in this case, if that was the case, the only evidence we have against Johnny Depp, him being in any way abusive to Amber Heard, is when he’s pushing her in self-defensive, or he’s pushing a door and catching her toes in self-defense, which isn’t abuse. Sorry, but slamming cupboards isn’t abuse, like, I’ll slam my phone if it’s not working, you know? That doesn’t mean that I’m abusive. Me and my partner will argue and we’ll storm away from each other and slam doors, but we’re not abusive. I do not think mutual abuse exists, I think that in this situation, Amber Heard has held the authority and control, she has been the abusive one, and I think that Johnny Depp, obviously, has only pushed back in self-defense, you can listen to the audio tapes. I think that would be the way, without having to go on a tangent into every video or evidence, that would be the idea that I would most like to get across. People need to understand that you don't just wake up one day and just start being abusive to each other.
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