In recent generations, major cultural differences have been made apparent.

It’s now fine for people to come out as gay, it’s normal for people to have interracial marriages, and we even thought that as a society we had acknowledged the fact that it is possible for a man to be the one who is abused in a relationship.

Recently, there’s been more of a cultural acceptance for men who are the victims of these acts to start speaking out against their abusers, but this is exactly why it is so shocking when someone like Johnny Depp speaks up about his  abuse and is still being reprimanded for claims his ex-wife (Amber Heard) made despite him proving in court that the claims were baseless and without evidence, and despite that the court labeled him a wife-beater. So, as retaliation, Depp began his own lawsuits disputing the original brought against him, where he proved that Heard  was, in fact, the one who  abused him, bringing into court evidence that he was in the ER after Heard  had sliced his finger with a knife, audio recordings of her admitting to hitting him in the face, and even his ex-wives and friends who he lost connection with, like Winona Ryder, have come out and said he was never aggressive with them.

It is justifiable to say that if the circumstances were different and it was a woman who was abused instead of a man with this amount of evidence the abuser would already be facing charges. But instead Johnny Depp is still suffering for the false claims that were instead brought against him. 

Countless people on the internet have sided with Depp and have taken to a website called Change.org petitioning to have Amber Heard removed from her role in the upcoming Warner Bros. Aquaman 2 film as justice for Johnny Depp also being removed from a Warner Bros. film he had a major role in. A fragrance company by the name of Dior has recently kept Depp on as the face of their cologne and the products have been flying off the shelves for people trying to pay forward their respect for the actor.

However, it’s not like this is the first time a male Hollywood star has received backlash for speaking up about their abuse. Not so long ago our society shared this toxic masculinity trait of thinking men can’t be abused. A similar incident occurred back in 2017 with Terry Crews when he spoke out about how he was sexually assaulted by a Hollywood actor.  How much longer will it be until we as a society understand that abuse can go both ways, so that we can provide a safe environment for men to speak up?