Photo Credit: Lost Beyond Pluto
Known by her internet pseudonym Lost Beyond Pluto, the lawyer and active Army member is one of the most recognizable figured in the #JusticeforJohnnyDepp movement. Myself and so many others feel empowered, educated, and inspired by her in-depth legal videos that go through specific court documents on the Johnny Depp case, helping the general public understand every step of the legal proceedings. I not only highly encourage you to go to her Youtube Channel and consume all of her content in a binge marathon, but also hope you love the deeply intelligent, well thought out person that cares deeply for standing on the right side of the roaring rapids.
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!
Pluto: It’s my absolute pleasure! Thank you so much for your support! I’m Lost Beyond Pluto and I’m a lawyer based in Australia. I mostly specialize in military law (I serve in the Army), but I have worked with a few male domestic violence victims outside of my military career in the recent past as well.
Isabella: How did you first hear about this case? What were your thoughts, and whose side did you take?
Pluto: I first heard about this case when Amber’s allegations first surfaced in 2016. At the time, I was barely into my 20’s and busy completing my Masters degree, working part-time and working on my music, so I didn’t dedicate any time to delving deeper into the topic. I do remember believing Amber and feeling incredibly disappointed in Johnny; in fact, I even considered entirely boycotting his movies at the time. However, I did also feel shock and disbelief since the allegations just did not add up with Johnny’s character (I don’t know him personally but you can pick things up from one’s attitude in interviews, talk shows, reputation, etc).
Isabella: Was there a change in your perspective? What piece of evidence/moment was the thing to change your mind?
Pluto: Earlier last year, when the worldwide lockdowns were imposed, I was home and had a lot of spare time. I came across a youtube channel called “Incredibly Average” entirely by happenstance, and from then on, it was like falling down the rabbit hole from “Alice in Wonderland.” I practically binge-watched Brian’s videos and further educated myself on the entire case by reading through all the court documents and reviewing the evidence. All the evidence worked together to build an entire picture, but if I had to pick one piece, it would most definitely be the audio recordings of Amber admitting to hitting Johnny and refusing to promise to stop. More damning was the fact that her only complaint was that he’d always “split” and never once accused him of being abusive or violent in return. That was a pivotal moment for me.
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?
Pluto: I started seriously posting videos earlier last year, so I didn’t have a subscriber base or any semblance of a significant platform to spread awareness (I was at 54 subscribers as of February 2020). In 2019, I was involved in a domestic violence/sexual assault case that I was incredibly invested in. I was still working on it in early 2020. That case showed me how dismissive the justice system (and society as a whole) is in relation to male victims of female predators/abusers. As a young woman myself, I was completely appalled by the blatant sexism displayed by our incredibly draconian legal system. I decided to dedicate my youtube channel to talk about the plight of male victims of abuse suffered at the hands of female perpetrators from a legal standpoint. Finding out more about Johnny’s case a couple of months later in April was completely a coincidental occurrence. It just fell perfectly into the theme of my channel, and despite having only around 100 subscribers when I made my very first video on the case in May, I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. Thankfully, the video was incredibly successful and here we are today, but I never knew people would watch it. Of course, I am incredibly thankful that they did.
I do believe that the very first video I made on the case (released on 6 May 2020) was the most important to make, because it started this entire journey for me. It was made purely to fight for justice; as I said, I had no subscriber base and honestly thought no one would watch it. The injustice of his case was too much to bear, so making the video was my way of doing something about it, whether it is recognized by the public or not.
Isabella: In this case, what do you believe is the most important aspect/the aspect that resonates with you the most in this case? (media manipulation, lack of justice in the system, awareness for male victims of domestic abuse, etc) Do you have any personal experience you are willing to share?
Pluto: Awareness for male victims of DV, the inherent bias and sexism that is displayed by both the justice system, the police force and society as a whole are all factors that stand out to me as the most important and resonate with me the most.
As for personal experience, I have alluded to the fact that what sparked my interest in this entire area is a case that I was personally involved in back in 2019. I’m planning on making a video about that case, which will include an interview with the victim and at least 3 other witnesses, so stay tuned for that. It’s very close to my heart and without that experience, I would never have started making videos on youtube last year.
Isabella: Is there any mistake in particular on the part of Justice Nichols that you find particularly terrible/laughable?
Pluto: In general, I am incredibly disappointed by how this case has been handled by the justice system in the UK (my fingers are still crossed for Virginia later this year). It’s frustrating to me especially because I’m but one young lawyer who is powerless in effecting change in the area of male victims of DV. That doesn’t mean I won’t stop fighting, but I definitely cannot do it alone. Johnny has become the face of male victims of DV, whether he intended to do so or not, and while it’s tragic that he has found himself in that position, he’s doing so much by bringing attention to the issue.
As for Mr Justice Nicol’s judgment, I think I’ve made my opinions on his judgment very clear in my videos, particularly the one on the judgment itself and then the one I released on Johnny’s appeal. As I said in the videos, the one that stands out to me the most is disregarding the evidence of police officers trained in DV simply because they failed to take “contemporaneous notes”. I always laugh out loud when I read that one.
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?
Pluto: I would ask them to educate themselves on the case before arriving at a decision. There will always be those who steadfastly believe Amber, regardless of the evidence they are presented with, and I have nothing to say to them.
As for those who assert “mutual abuse”, I would ask them to remember that a person with substance abuse problems does not automatically make them abusive. I would remind them that he’s had substance abuse problems his entire life (since childhood, I believe), and despite this, there is absolutely no record of him ever laying a finger on anyone (apart from that scuffle with the paparazzi in 1999 to protect his pregnant partner, but even then, he never touched anyone; he brandished a wooden plank to keep them away).
As I have said in my videos, abusive people have a pattern, or what we legal folk call ‘modus operandi’; once one allegation surfaces, numerous ones tend to follow, such as in the case of Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, the US gymnastic team’s doctor Larry Nassar… I could go on. Especially when it’s someone of Johnny’s age, they tend to leave a trail behind. They don’t just go from being a lovely human being to suddenly becoming a wife beater in their 50’s. It rarely (if ever) happens.
- May I make the personal suggestion of watching her FKA Twigs and Meghan Markle videos? They're my personal favorites.
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