In this process, the roles seemed clearly divided, and it was all too fitting that the two protagonists are acting artists.
Here is the capricious actress who seemed insecure and aggressive at the same time.
Because the self-confident guy, who doesn't give a damn about the allegations against him, keeps his followers happy with gestures of victory and hugs his lawyer as if the civil trial were a romantic comedy.
Amber Heard versus Johnny Depp - that was and is and remains a conflict that is tailored to the entertainment-addicted digital society.
The two actors performed their roles so well that at the end the audience just had to thumbs up or thumbs down like in the bullring.
The court delivered the nuances on Wednesday: that Amber Heard has to pay around ten million dollars in the mutual defamation lawsuit, but that at least two million dollars are deducted from this, which means that a certain part of the blame also falls on her former husband.
That was a surprise because the public court had long since met.
The undignified spectacle in the hall was reinforced by the fact that the Court TV channel, which broadcast the negotiations live for six weeks, turned a bitter dispute into a strange happening through unlimited personalization and intensification.
Being there live creates a feeling of authentic immediacy, which is poison for unprejudiced judgment.
Court television takes the formula "In the name of the people" too literally.
Here everyone had formed a verdict before the jury had even retired to deliberate.
Process or entertainment?
It's still different in Germany.
In the trials surrounding the death of Walter Lübcke and the allegations against Jérôme Boateng, the trial reporters had to queue the day before or in the middle of the night to get a seat in the morning.
Not even the transfer to a second room is considered permissible because of the code of criminal procedure.
That may be very narrow.
But what is certain is that, despite the court's best efforts, the transmission outside can also distort the process inside, i.e. the statements of the witnesses and the opinions of the jury.
How bizarre the sympathy of the public was was seen on Wednesday at the verdict in the Virginia court.
With every "Yes" with which the jury answered the questions about the invalidity of Heard's allegations in the affirmative,
The mood was also heated in the anti-social media.
Under the hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp, a quick court ran on Twitter and TikTok.
Since his role from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" was unceremoniously extended into real life.
A man who defends himself with insane chutzpah against impenetrable powers, the undead and giant octopuses seemed to fit this process.
Johnny Depp had empathized so much with the pirate Jack Sparrow in the five films that the person seemed to melt into the role.
Who would believe that men under the influence of alcohol would easily become violent when good Johnny is actually just a sympathetically slapstick drunkard?
If the whole world is just a stage, then even brutal life is just a tragic comedy.
Amber Heard would be the otherworldly monster in this character constellation.
Anyone who had always had something to say against the MeToo movement could now feel vindicated.
The plaintiff, who was also the defendant, is in fact a woman who, despite proven lies and exaggerated accusations, at least deserved to be heard.
Her exaggerated expression was the cause of a lot of Internet ridicule.
She never got out of this role.
This woman has done the MeToo movement no service, that's clear.
Her moody nature devalued the issue of physical and emotional violence in relationships.
The shrill tones make it even more difficult for other women to comment on the four-eyes crime of domestic violence.
On the other hand: Amber Heard was never suitable as a feminist figurehead.
Nor is it an example of the narrative that allegations of abuse are often fabricated.
This defamation process is therefore not a victory for men, not a ridiculously failed MeToo project.
Rather, it should provide an opportunity to take a look at the systemic aspects.
False accusations and a sensational public are of no help to anyone.
Perhaps the undignified stage play at least has the effect that domestic conflicts are defused much earlier through talks, couples therapy or mediation.
And: sober self-reflection does no harm – this applies to both men and women.