Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and the Power of PR
The very best public relations efforts don’t happen quickly. It takes time to win trust and build a brand, so that when a crisis happens you and your organization can manage it more effectively.
That’s the major difference between the approaches used by the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard teams during the past six years and, in large part, the reason why their media issues are playing out as they are.
Disclaimer here: despite the approximately 400 hours of testimony, legal research, commentary, and related tweets and TikTok shenanigans I have absorbed as part of the Depp/Heard trial, I have no comment about the case itself. There are two sides to this story and, as always, I suspect the truth is somewhere in between.
But the PR story is very different.
When Johnny Depp was accused of domestic violence in 2016, at the zenith of the #MeToo movement, it was undoubtedly tempting for his team to go into full crisis mode. It would have been understandable for him to engage in some poignant interviews, maybe give healthy donations to women’s charities, or try to fight back.
These are all solid PR recommendations and lots of men pursued those strategies. But he did none of these things.
The noise of #MeToo began to abate. In its place arrived other narratives: the Trump presidency, a pandemic, and war in Ukraine. New heroes rose and fell and—all the while—the Depp team was slowly building.
It is likely that during this time a new narrative was slowly taking shape. Pro-Depp messaging would appear in the news and on social media. Not loudly, not every day, but slowly. Carefully.
We’ve all seen those moments. Johnny Depp-as-Jack Sparrow doing kind acts for others. Perhaps he’s in a hospital, comforting a sick child. Maybe he’s riding along on a buggy at Disneyworld. He doesn’t bring cameras along to brag about it, but someone on the scene is usually recording. Posting. Telling others.
People would see these posts and think to themselves, “Well. I always liked him. What a nice guy.” They’d remember his movies, think about his talent. They’re not thinking about a male abuser, they’re thinking about this gentle, generous human.
Then, seven years later, Depp and his lawyers go to court. They don’t expect to win their suit, but they aim to rewrite the narrative. Ben Chew brings gummy bears to the opposition. Camille Vasquez shines. And Johnny Depp is alternately sad, funny and brutally honest on the stand.
Without getting into the legal issues at play, I can say that’s precisely when all those years of social investment pay off. That brand is solid, and people show up for him.
This is masterful PR. It’s a story written by the Depp team that took seven years to tell.
Contrast that with Heard. Again, I don’t know the truth behind her allegations. But I can comment on her PR work.
Heard appears to have started with a very short-term PR strategy in mind. She wasn’t building anything toward the future and, like many people and organizations, she followed the crisis communications model of doing a high-profile interview, getting her supporters out there, and trying to engage in widespread damage control.
And it’s not working well for her. She has no strong base of trust and support from which to start, so her efforts tend to feel like they have fallen short of the mark. Those who are predisposed to distrust her continue to do so; those who trust her aren’t inclined to speak up, because she has done too little, too late.
It’s worth remembering, during your next organizational crisis, that immediate action isn’t always the best action. Instead, think about what the public values—things like kindness, honesty, and quality work—and invest in your brand using those very strongest of tools. Every day.
Then, when you’ve got a strong bank account of public trust and goodwill in your corner, your next crisis will be far more manageable. It won’t take seven years to make things right.
It’s not too late to begin building.