10 May 2022. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are in the middle of a six week trial which is being broadcast live from the courtroom. We will look at segments of the trial and use DMM discourse coding techniques used in DMM attachment assessments, such as the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), to examine their testimony. We will also look at facial expressions to see if we can correlate DMM strategies with Ekman style facial gestures.
We will start with testimony from Amber Heard’s first day of trial which is available on YouTube, and at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUbzWjNqtmo. If her testimony is honest, she gives a number of examples of drug use, aggression, and physical violence.
Delusional Jealousy?
Ms. Heard also describes what we have been describing in prior DMM Coffee House sessions as delusional jealousy. A CSI hypothesis is that, when true, this form of jealousy involves intense but completely baseless, and often apparently outlandish, allegations of partner infidelity, which may be followed by aggressive acts which may be intense or extreme. CSI is exploring this dynamic as a potential high quality indicator that a person is using relatively intense forms of obsessive coercion as part of their attachment-based self-protective strategies. It may be that drug or alcohol use exacerbates the intensity of the feeling of rejection and the reaction. If the allegations are true and the hypothesis is true, the presence of delusional jealousy may be a very strong indicator that the relationship may involve extreme and dangerous coercion.
One example of jealousy followed by aggression which Ms. Heard described was during a plane trip to Russia. (This testimony starts at two hours 35 minutes into the YouTube video referenced above.) She testified about how she and Mr. Depp used MDMA during the flight, and about a flight attendant joining them. Ms. Heard described MDMA as a “love drug” and testified that the flight attendant became friendly with her, and eventually was sitting shoulder to shoulder with her, but that there was no flirting or sexual interest on her part. Then Ms. Heard testified that Mr. Depp became jealous and angry and then violent to the flight attendant and then later in their hotel to Ms. Heard. She testified that Mr. Depp hit her hard enough to make her nose bleed a little bit and that his body guard was the first to notice her nose was bleeding.
Ms. Heard testified about another similar incident while camping in the desert with some friends. After a female friend took MDMA, Ms. Heard described the friend as becoming cozy with her and how Mr. Depp had a similar reaction.
Please note, the description in this blog post of Ms. Heard’s testimony, and the association with the concept of delusional jealousy, is made before she was cross-examined. CSI is not implying her testimony is accurate or not accurate, nor that it is complete. Ms. Heard indicates other people were present and CSI is not aware of their testimony.
Further information about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s relationship and litigation
Hollywood Reporter has an article reviewing Heard’s countersuit, and some of the technical legal issues around defamation claims and Depp’s attempted but failed Anti-SLAPP defense to her countersuit.
The Insider has a good review of the timeline of their relationship and several court cases.
Session details
Date: Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Length: 90 minutes
Price: Free
Host/Facilitator: No host, open discussion, facilitated by Mark Baumann and Dr. Melanie Langer
Platform: Zoom meeting
Session for: Any professional interested in DMM attachment theory and science. Invite your colleagues.
Sponsor: Conflict Science Institute
Session times:(US/EU/Africa/India): Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. Seattle (UTC -7). (11:00 a.m. in Dallas; noon in Miami; 5:00 p.m. in London; 6:00 p.m. in Cape Town; 9:30 p.m. in New Delhi; 11:00 p.m. in Bangkok. For Sydney Australia, the session is at 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday.) (To confirm your local time, compare it to 5pm London time.)
For a registration link: Contact us, and please specify which session you wish to attend and which agency/profession you are in.