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Video of people reacting to Johnny Depp's lawyer mentioning '#AmberTurd' in court goes viral

Social media expert Ron Schnell testified in court that there were over a million negative tweets about Amber Heard

Johnny Depp fans couldn't get enough of the moment the words "Amber Turd" were uttered in the courtroom after a social media expert revealed during the trial that several such hashtags trended on social media between April 2020 and January 2021.

Ron Schnell, who currently serves as the director of the Berkeley Research Group, took the stand after the lunch break on Thursday, May 19, and weighed in on the negative hashtags being used against Heard on social media. The social media expert testified in the court that there were over a million negative tweets about Amber Heard, and that by far the most popular hashtag listed was #JusticeforJohnnyDepp. Schnell, however, also looked into harsher tags such as #WeJustDontLikeYouAmber, #AmberHeardIsAnAbuser, and #AmberTurd, which is a reference to Depp’s allegation that Heard pooped on his side of their bed as a practical joke.

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“Some of these hashtags are pretty rude,” Schnell stated in court when asked by Depp's lawyer Wayne F Dennison how he knew the tweets were negative. And when asked if hashtags like "Amber Heard is an Abuser” and “Amber Turd” started trending around 2016, Schell said he couldn't recall. However, he admitted that #JusticeForJohnnyDepp had been trending as far back as 2013. On the other hand, the expert also acknowledged there was a major uptick in hashtags like ‘#Johnnydeppisawifebeater’ between October and November 2020, which coincided with Depp’s trial in the UK, which he ended up losing. Meanwhile, Schnell's analysis found that there were more than 2.3 million negative tweets about Heard between January 2018 and January 2021.

The discussion about social media trends surrounding the case sparked a wave of reactions on the internet, and the moment Dennison asked Schell about the hashtag 'Amber Turd' went viral as it made the rounds on social media. Depp's fans poked fun at the exchange, with many wondering how both the lawyer and witness were able to "keep a straight face" while reiterating the disparaging terminology.  

"Hahaha. Is she crawling under the desk about now?" one tweeted, referring to Heard. "Like when you were a kid and someone said butt," another quipped. "I watched this over and over just to catch the hilarious facial expressions of the folks behind him," a comment read.

"Can someone tell me how the attorney could keep a straight face? Every time I heard him say it I’d bust out laughing," a user wondered. "I don’t know how Ron Schnell kept his cool responding to that either. So even mannered and smooth-toned. I was howling and laughing," someone else added.

"The fact that the words “Amber Turd” have been uttered in a United States courtroom in front of Amber Heard makes this entire trial worth it," one noted. "Wayne repeating Amber Turd and him definitely enjoying every second of it will stay with me forever," another gushed. 

Heard, 36, is battling a defamation lawsuit brought on by Depp, 58, who is seeking more than $50 million in damages over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which the actress claimed to be a domestic abuse survivor. While Depp was not mentioned in the article, his lawyers have argued the implications were obvious and damaged their client's career prospects. Heard has countersued for $100 million.