“This is just a perfect example of how this case is being treated like entertainment and not a domestic violence case … People are treating this like it’s the super bowl, something to fangirl over.”

Saturday Night Live is facing a ton of backlash for a recent skit that appeared to make light of the ongoing defamation case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

If you tuned into the NBC comedy show at the weekend, you may recall that the episode opened with a sketch that focused primarily on a number of claims from inside Depp and Heard’s courtroom battle — most notably, accusations that Heard defecated on their shared bed after a dispute in 2016.

Before we get into it, here’s a brief overview of what’s actually happening in court right now, and why it certainly isn’t something to be laughed about.

For context, Depp sued Heard for defamation over an op-ed she penned for the Washington Post back in 2018, where she claimed to be “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The piece was headlined: “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”

At no point in the article did Heard ever name Depp specifically, however — given that she had previously accused him of being “verbally and physically abusive” after their divorce in 2016 — Depp’s attorneys claimed that she indirectly framed him as an abuser, and damaged his career as a result.

The $50 million defamation lawsuit was filed in 2019 in Virginia — where the Washington...

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