Lance Bass has become one of the most high profile faces of a controversial viral TikTok trend in which members reenact Amber Heard’s testimony against Johnny Depp. Heard’s testimony finds the “Aquaman” actor recounting the first time Depp allegedly hit her. Bass posted the video on May 16, which is when the Depp-Heard trial resumed after a week-long break. The pop singer captioned his video: “In honor of the trial starting back up…Had to do it.” Depp is suing Heard for defamation after she alluded to their abusive relationship in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
“At this point, we’re sitting next to each other on the edge of the couch,” Heard says in a voiceover as Bass reenacts the dialogue in his living room. “I was just sitting there on this carpet, looking at the dirty carpet, wondering how I wound up on this carpet and why I never noticed that the carpet was so filthy before.”
As Variety reported May 9, TikTok is being flooded with videos in which users interact with parts of Heard’s testimony. Videos include reenacting the testimony like Bass did, dancing to her testimony and reaction videos in which users mock or criticize Heard. One viral video featuring the audio of Heard’s testimony over an image of Kim Kardashian in a judge’s robe earned more than 30 million views in five days.
TikTok says it has removed several of the videos that use Heard’s testimony because it violates the platform’s anti-bullying policies, but hundreds of videos still remain. TikTok’s Community Guidelines state in part that it prohibits “content that disparages victims of violent tragedies.” In addition, per TikTok’s policies, “We remove expressions of abuse, including threats or degrading statements intended to mock, humiliate, embarrass, intimidate or hurt an individual.”
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