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03rd Nov 2022

Amber Heard deletes Twitter account after Elon Musk takes over

Steve Hopkins

‘Looks like someone doesn’t want their ex-boyfriend to have access to their account.’

People have noticed that Amber Heard has deleted her Twitter account, but it is unclear if she’s simply part of the celebrity exodus since Elon Musk took over the platform, or has more personal reasons.

The Aquaman star has only just slipped out of the headlines, with her ex-husband Johnny Depp‘s defamation suit against her causing a media feeding frenzy lasting well beyond the trial that concluded, in The Pirates of the Caribbean actor’s favour, in June. However, the fallout and interest around the case, has only now, in recent months, died down.

Depp sued Heard for a Washington Post op-ed she wrote in 2018 which he believed implied he was an abuser. Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The punitive damages amount was later reduced to $350,000 in keeping with Virginia law. Heard, the juror found, was also defamed and was awarded $2m.

Heard was often ridiculed in media coverage and on social media during proceedings, with hashtags like #AmberHeardIsAnAbuser and #AmberHeardIsALiar trending, and a study after the trial concluded the abuse was “one of the worst cases of cyberbullying and cyberstalking by a group of Twitter accounts” ever.

Musk’s name also came up during the trial. Heard and Musk dated briefly after meeting at the Met Gala in 2016. Heard was dismissive of the relationship on the stand, saying she “felt nothing” and her “soul was dead” when the courtship began.

Although Heard had remained on social media throughout and following the outcome of the trial, Twitter users noticed over the weekend that her account had been removed. Musk only finalised his $44 billion takeover last week, but hasn’t wasted any time. He’s fired top execs, dissolved the board, and given ultimatums to the engineers.

Whether Heard’s departure from Twitter is related to Musk’s moves is yet to be seen, but that hasn’t stopped people putting their theories forward.

Morgan Tremaine – a former TMZ employee who testified for Depp’s team during the trial – wrote on Twitter: “Hmm looks like someone didn’t want their ex-boyfriend to have access to their account and DM’s.”

 

It is, however, unclear as to why Heard deleted her account or if it had any relation to Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

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