Fact Check
A video clip claims to show Amber Heard "sniffing cocaine" from a tissue during her testimony in the defamation trial brought by Johnny Depp in the spring of 2022. The trial pertains to an article Heard wrote alleging that Depp abused her during their marriage. There is no evidence that Heard sniffed cocaine in the video. In fact, the longer video from which the short clip was taken shows otherwise. The claim that Heard sniffed cocaine is false.
Since the high profile trial began in April 2022, fans of Depp have engaged in online trolling of Heard, including spreading rumors surrounding her conduct and statements in court. While fans of both parties have displayed such behavior, the online campaign against Heard seems particularly heated.
Tweets and TikTok posts claimed to show Heard sniffing cocaine as she paused, held a tissue to her nose, and rubbed her nose afterward.
The tweet and TikTok video miscaptioned the clip, which was pulled from the second day of Heard’s testimony against Depp. The full video is available below:
The clip claiming that she is doing cocaine was pulled from the 14:38 mark in the above video.
At the beginning of the video, a box of tissues is visible on the right side of the stand (Heard’s left) where Heard is making her testimony, within reaching distance. At numerous times in her testimony, Heard was visibly emotional and sniffling while speaking. At any point in the testimony she could have reached out to grab a tissue. Twelve minutes into the longer version of the video, before the alleged cocaine sniffing occurs, she is seen reaching for a tissue on the left side of the stand (her right), and wiping her nose. She then folds the tissue and puts her hands down. She brings the tissue back up a few minutes later to wipe her nose.
The TikTok video similarly misrepresented and altered the sequence of events as they took place in the trial. At around 13:39 in the actual video, Heard talks about taking Depp’s daughter to the restaurant Benihana. At 14:38 Heard presses the tissue to her nose. The TikTok video claims that the moment where she pressed the tissue to her nose came before she described the dinner, and detailed how her “lethargic” style of talking later was supposedly a “comedown” from the cocaine hit.
There is no evidence that the tissue carried cocaine or that she was sniffing drugs during her testimony. Moreover, it strains credulity to suppose that a box of tissues provided to all witnesses by the court would be laced with cocaine, or that the defendant would brazenly snort drugs mere feet from the judge. This is yet another example of one faction attempting to manufacture evidence that confirms preconceived beliefs they apparently hold about the character of the other party in the trial. We have covered similar claims before.
Given that the tweet and TikTok both misrepresent a video that simply shows Heard sniffing and wiping her nose with a court-provided tissue, and the larger video from the trial contains no evidence of drugs being used, we rate this claim as “Miscaptioned.”