Press Releases
New Tolerance Campaign Calls Out ACLU for Orchestrating Amber Heard’s Defamation of Johnny Depp
Grassroots supporters across the United States demanding accountability from ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero
Washington, DC — The New Tolerance Campaign (NTC) today launched a campaign drawing attention to the key role the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) played in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation case. On June 1, a jury found Heard guilty on all counts, concluding she was responsible for libel and awarding Depp with a $15 million judgement.
At the core of the case: a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard implied her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp, abused her. Depp denied the allegations, and a jury agreed. The driving force behind the op-ed: the ACLU. The organization was “involved in conceiving, drafting and placing” the piece, according to testimony during the trial from ACLU Chief Operating Officer Terrence Dougherty.
“The ACLU has been accused of a leftward drift in recent years, but it would be more accurate to say the organization is careening downward,” New Tolerance Campaign President Gregory T. Angelo stated. “The Depp-Heard trial made it clear that the ACLU is willing to use a dysfunctional relationship as a crass tool in pursuit of its own agenda. In the aftermath of this high-profile trial, questions about the ACLU’s disgraceful role remain. The campaign NTC launched today is empowering grassroots activists to demand answers.”
About the New Tolerance Campaign: The New Tolerance Campaign (NTC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit watchdog organization mobilizing Americans to confront intolerance double-standards by establishment institutions, civil rights groups, universities, and socially conscious brands. NTC campaigns empower everyday Americans to hold accountable self-proclaimed arbiters of tolerance when they betray their own stated values.
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