Heard wrote a 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post newspaper in which she claimed that "two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out." The article did not name Depp but was published two years after Heard filed for divorce.
"I'm even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously," she said in a statement on her Twitter account.