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Duolingo slammed for mocking Amber Heard amid Johnny Depp defamation case

The translation and language learning application faced backlash for treating domestic violence as a laughing matter

Duolingo, the globally renowned translation and language learning application, is under fire for making an 'insensitive' comment under a viral video about Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation lawsuit. The social media managing team of the application is being slammed online after they spoke their mind under a viral TikTok.

On Tuesday, May 17, NBC News shared a clip on their TikTok which showed Heard being cross-examined at the courtroom in Virginia, Fairfax, where she is being sued by her ex-husband for $50 million.

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Amber was heard saying that she was being targeted by online hate groups. She even said, "You can look either of us up online and figure out who’s being abused." Beneath this clip, in the comment section, Duolingo left the remark, "Y’all think amber watches tiktok?" This 'insensitive joke' resulted in Duolingo facing tons of backlash from followers of the case. Many viewers took to their Twitter to address the translation application's insensitivity towards a 'sensitive legal matter'.

PR expert Chris Harihar took to his Twitter and said, "On what planet does a brand - even @duolingo - think it’s cool to crack jokes about an alleged victim of domestic violence? The Depp fandom bubble on TikTok is very real but no brand should get anywhere near it."

Another said, "My question is: why is a domestic abuse case being treated like a tv series?"

One user further slammed Duolingo, asking, "We’re waiting on a statement explaining why your team thinks domestic violence is a laughing matter!"

Another user added, "Yeah, and I still don’t get in any way how it was a ‘joke’ or ‘insensitive’…and have yet to see anyone explain how it is either…"

One Twitter user shared their two cents by saying, "Duolingo should stick to what it knows best, a Memory game disguised as "learning"."

One blatantly said, "It's probably just some tone deaf 21 year old intern. Not many over 25s are social media watchers".

While another tried to address the concerns of others and explain what the statement actually meant, "Because of what was said on the clip… heard says “you can look up online and see who the abuser is” And Duolingo is basically like “has she seen TikTok?” Cause TikTok sees her as the abuser.. Plus is Duolingo, the account literally know for their witty/funny comments"