it's kinda wild that we were all going about our lives as normal then randomly in 2019-2022 everyone you had ever met became the most vile misogynists you ever thought possible because their favourite childhood washed-up pirate was more likeable to them than his traumatised wife. and then everyone moved on like they didn't do all of that.
I think what it comes down to is that those misogynist biases are so deeply ingrained in our society that pretty much everyone has absorbed them to some extent. Even in the most enlightened person, they're there, just below the surface.
And what Depp did, much like what Tr*mp did, is give people's inner asshole permission to come out and play.
Tr*mp did it for the Right- that someone like him could be so brazenly abusive and bigoted and corrupt in public, and be elected anyway, told them that those things were now acceptable behaviour. They love him for that- because he gave them permission to be the awful people they want to be.
Depp... he kind of did that for everybody else.
Yeah, the fascist Right largely supported him in the trial, of course they did. But what was striking, and terrifying, is that his support came mainly from women and younger people- demographics not usually associated with the MAGA crowd (this is backed up by polling at the time).
Depp wasn't seen as an overtly partisan figure, and the trial by most people was not perceived as a political issue (rule one: everything's political). As such, they were able to use Depp's fandom, particularly in the afforementioned demographics, as a Trojan Horse to deliver MRA/incel/"Alt. Right" misogyny to people who normally wouldn't embrace it. Indeed, because they framed Depp as a victim of abuse, rather than a perpetrator, people could actually tell themselves they were being progressive by supporting him. And because the internet was overwhelmingly flooded with aggressive pro-Depp and anti-Heard content, inflated by bots, it created the appearance of a consensus in support of Depp, and at the end of the day, humans are herd/pack animals. The response "If everyone else is doing it it can't be that wrong" is deeply-ingrained in us.
So, being wildly misogynistic in support of Depp and against Heard became not only socially permissible, but almost socially obligatory.
And even for those who knew better, there was powerful incentive to keep your mouth shut about it, as supporting Heard publicly guaranteed at best instant ridicule and being accused of supporting an abuser, and at worst harassment, doxxing, and threats of violence. I was harassed a bit for supporting Heard online, and I largely kept my mouth shut about it with people I knew off the internet.
