Monica Lewinsky has weighed in on the ongoing legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, summing it up as "courtroom porn" in her op-ed for Variety.
According to her, people's perception of the defamation trial has been twisted, because they have become "so attuned to this narrow, cynical cycle of social media encounters that we consider the trial not tragic or pathetic, but as a pure car wreck."
"Such scattershot consumption hasn’t allowed for real comprehension. Instead, we experience only apprehension, knee-jerk outrage, and titillation. It’s like going to the opera and reading a couple of translated supertitles but not understanding Italian. And despite whatever else this is, it is a soap opera," Lewinsky argued.
She went on to blast those coming up with "cruel" Amber Heard memes and fueling hate on women, particularly pointing at how Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez cross-examining Heard was a "girl-on-girl action" that is traditionally "on Misogyny’s greatest-hits album".
The "legal spectacle", according to Lewinsky, has impacted not only personal lives of Depp, Heard, and their loved ones, but also fueled "the flames of misogyny and, separately, the celebrity circus."
"No matter whom the jury’s verdict favors—be it defendant Heard or plaintiff Depp—we are guilty," she concluded.
Monica Lewinsky was a center of the political sex scandal that erupted after her affair with the 42th US president, Bill Clinton, had been brought to light. Her op-ed comes as jury continued deliberation on the multimillion defamation trial, on track to announce a verdict.