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“Speaking through tears”

Amber Heard’s voice from the courtroom to the media

ORCiD logo with link | York University
ORCiD logo with link | York University
Published online: 9 October 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.25024.lap
Abstract
This study investigates Canadian media representations of Amber Heard’s testimony during the defamation trial against Johnny Depp. We analyse the varied (and sometimes biased) discursive strategies the media used to represent Heard’s voice, with a particular focus on reported speech (Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa. 1993. From Discourse Analysis to Critical Discourse Analysis: The Differential Re-Presentation of Women and Men Speaking in Written News. In John McHardy Sinclair, Michael Hoey, Gwyneth Fox & Malcolm Coulthard (eds.), Techniques of description: Spoken and written discourse: A festschrift for Malcolm Coulthard, 196–208. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and naming strategies (Clark, Kate. 1992. The Linguistics of Blame: Representations of Women in The Sun’s Reporting of Crimes of Sexual Violence. In Michael J. Toolan (ed.), Language, text and context: Essays in stylistics, 208–24. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Our analysis shows social gender ideologies are inserted through reported speech in the media. The naming strategies and images also point to a tendency to portray Heard as an emotional source, thus associating her emotional display with insincere acting (Matoesian, Greg. 2001. Law and the language of identity: Discourse in the William Kennedy Smith rape trial. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). We argue that the media’s non-neutral portrayal of Heard’s testimony as well as its emotional nature impedes on her sincerity as a victim and credibility as a witness. We argue that our analysis illustrates a well-established tendency in the media to discredit women’s experiences of gender violence.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1News discourse
    • 2.2Reported speech
  • 3.Method
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Introducing verbs (or actions of speaking)
    • 4.2Naming strategies (or agents of speaking)
    • 4.3Manners of speaking
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (57)
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