Depp Trial May Have Hurt His Popularity With Men More Than Women–Poll

Johnny Depp's victory over Amber Heard in his defamation trial may have harmed his reputation with the general public, particularly with men, according to a recent study.

In fact, a recent study by Morning Consult measuring Depp's popularity before and after the trial found that U.S. adults across all genders and generations thought of Depp less favorably than before. Depp won his multi-million dollar defamation trial against ex-wife Heard after she wrote an op-ed in 2018 stating she was a survivor of domestic abuse.

The aforementioned study found that adults who had a favorable opinion of Depp dropped from 68 to 56 percent between the start and end of the trial, from April to June. The two biggest changes of opinion occurred in boomers, with a 22 percent drop, and men, with a 15 percent drop.

Crisis and reputation management expert Juda Engelmayer, President of HeraldPR, believes he knows details revealed during the trial made Depp look "less chivalrous" and "more brutish" in the eyes of some, which could explain the actor's drop in popularity.

"While he won in court, there are those who believe that in the court of public opinion amongst people of a different generation and with his gender, that his actions were not honorable," Engelmayer told Newsweek.

"While Johnny Depp did well amongst women, a lot of men—particularly older and baby boomers—saw some of his actions as crude and it made him look something less than chivalrous and more brutish. There are people of certain generations who still value old-fashioned characteristics," he said.

"The #MeToo movement may have suggested that these traits aren't necessary anymore and the reactions of men toward female genders should now be of pure level footedness, though there are men who still believe that they should be more chivalrous towards women," he continued.

"Men who want to maintain a more charming and old-fashioned etiquette style. The image of Johnny Depp at trial didn't suggest that. It didn't make some men feel that he was doing his best."

Throughout the trial, Depp's supporters were vocal on social media with supportive hashtags constantly trending and outweighing supportive messages for Heard. Despite the positive reactions on the likes of TikTok and Twitter, the study by Morning Consult found that opinions of Depp among Gen Z and millennials remained the same, and slightly dipped.

There are no similar stats relating to Heard's change in reputation available, but Engelmayer believes she will not come out of this trial well either.

"Her reputation took a major hit," Engelmayer said. "She came off as someone who didn't tell the truth and took advantage of the [#MeToo] movement for her career or for whatever reason."

The question has been asked as to how both Depp and Heard will progress in their careers now. Depp has apparently already started work again on a drug-smuggling docuseries while Heard has reportedly had her role in the upcoming Aquaman 2"reduced."

Engelmayer believes that Heard still has a movie career ahead of her though. "I do think there are those in Hollywood who will give her a chance because, as a woman, she took the stand and took a chance and stood up for what she believed was right in a time when some still people need to believe women," he said.

Decision intelligence company Morning Consult's study asked 2,200 U.S. adults their opinion of Depp in the days leading up to the trial in April, and again in the days after the verdict was given in June 2022. They state that there are unweighted margins of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.