Johnny Depp, Amber Heard Fans Clash Outside Courtroom

Supporters of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard clashed with one another outside the courthouse on Friday as closing arguments began.

The $50 million defamation trial between Depp and Heard has polarized fans and pitted some against one another. Fans of both Depp and Heard have camped out outside of the courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, for several weeks.

Videos shared by Instagram user @houseinhibited, also known as Jessica Reed Kraus, on their stories showed crowds of fans being surrounded by law enforcement.

The actors' arrival at the courtroom has become a daily spectacle as fans line the street waiting for Depp and Heard to arrive. Videos shared by Victoria Bekiempis on Twitter show fans cheering for Depp and booing for Heard.

Reuters editor Corinne Perkins tweeted a photo of 26-year-old Dan Kim holding a sign outside the courthouse that reads, "I stand with Amber." In the photo, an unknown person makes an obscene gesture at the sign.

The trial has become what some have described as a "media spectacle." Eva Wallace, reputation and privacy lawyer at Vardags, told Newsweek in an earlier report, that the trial is "a pop culture boxing ring that has invited the court of public opinion to decide, unhindered by burden of proof or thorough evidential analysis. We saw this already after Heard's mentioning of Kate Moss during her testimony."

"Notably, however," Wallace continued, "despite the live-streaming of the trial, there will be many who derive their opinion from short, isolated snippets of information on social media, which may well be strategically presented in a format to persuade the viewer/reader to believe a certain standpoint."

People on social media have been torn over the course of the trial, with many fans split between the actors and their cases. Both Depp and Heard have taken note as well, as Heard took the witness stand on Thursday and cried, saying that she felt harassed and humiliated by the public.

"Even just walking into this courtroom, sitting here in front of the world," Heard said, "Having the worst parts of my life, things I've lived through, used to humiliate me. People want to kill me. People want to put my baby in the microwave, and they tell me that."

Depp sued Heard for $50 million for defamation regarding a piece she wrote with The Washington Post claiming she was a victim of domestic and sexual abuse. Heard countersued for $100 million for nuisance, and both have accused the other of domestic violence during their short-lived marriage, which ended in 2016.

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Update 5/27/2022 at 2:18 p.m.: This story has been updated to include more background information on the reactions to the trial.