FACT CHECK: Did The Guardian Publish An Article That Refers To The Depp-Heard Trial As A ‘Female Holocaust’?

An image shared on Facebook over 120 times purportedly shows an article published by The Guardian that refers to the defamation trial of actor Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard as a “female Holocaust.”

Verdict: False

The image is digitally fabricated. The actual article from The Guardian refers to the trial as “an orgy of misogyny,” not a “female Holocaust.”

Fact Check:

A jury recently ruled in Depp’s favor in a defamation lawsuit he filed against Heard, his ex-wife, according to NBC News. He is to be awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, the outlet reported.

One Facebook post appears to show a screenshot of a June 1 article written by The Guardian’s Moira Donegan titled, “The Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial was the female Holocaust.” The formatting of the article matches that of The Guardian.

The image has been altered. A keyword search revealed that Donegan did write a June 1 article about the trial, but it did not have that title. Rather, the story was titled, “The Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial was an orgy of misogyny.” The post was shared on The Guardian’s Twitter account and can be seen in online archives. There is no indication the headline was changed at any point.

“The Facebook post shared is not a published Guardian headline or image,” a spokesperson for The Guardian told Check Your Fact in an email. (RELATED: Has Amber Heard Been Arrested For Perjury And Cocaine Possession?)

Donegan responded to the photoshopped headline on Twitter, stating, “Someone photoshopped a fake headline for my piece about the Depp trial to make it look incendiary and dumb, and now it’s gone viral as fact and lots of credulous Depp supporters are yelling at me about it. Proving, of course, that they’re not at all susceptible to disinformation.” Donegan then tweeted a link to her article with the caption, “Here’s the real headline, and the real piece, in case you care to read it.”

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