Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial brings stan culture into the courtroom

Written by Ezra Marcus
A frenzied scene materializes four days a week at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia as fans seek seats at the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard.
The line to enter the courthouse begins before sunrise. Throughout the day, people appear carrying signs, wearing fan merch and costumes, even walking a pair of alpacas. Nearly all of them are there for Depp.
“We just want to support our captain,” said Jack Baker, 20, who arrived Monday dressed like an extra in Pirates of the Caribbean to film footage for his YouTube channel. “If he goes down with the ship, we’re going down with him.”
Maryam Alam, 29, and Alina Alam, 29, had hoped to get into the courthouse, but when they showed up at 7 a.m., they were already too late. Both grew up watching Depp on screen — playing such characters as Edward Scissorhands, Captain Jack Sparrow, Willy Wonka — and were eager for the chance to see him in person.
“It’s fulfilling a childhood fantasy,” Maryam Alam said. “It’s the reason why everyone else is here.”
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High-profile celebrity cases have drawn a wide audience ever since Court TV began broadcasting from courtrooms in the 1990s. But the trial of Depp and Heard has become a case study in what happens when complex claims are filtered through the lenses of stan culture and social media.
In addition to the live coverage on TV, YouTube, and various news and entertainment websites, countless short clips edited for maximum virality have circulated on Instagram and TikTok — “fancams,” in social media parlance, featuring forensic analyses of Depp’s and Heard’s trial attire, and courtroom exchanges that have been described as “SAVAGE.”