An Australian lawyer who creates TikToks was surprised to wake as much as texts from friends saying that they had seen him prominently feature in the brand new Depp v Heard Netflix docuseries.
Criminal defense lawyer Jahan Kalantar, was preparing for an everyday day at court on Thursday when he received messages from his friends telling him they saw him within the docuseries, which explores Amber Heard’s and Johnny Depp’s 2022 defamation case.
“They said, ‘Wow, I can’t imagine you’re on there. We’re very happy with you’,” Mr Kalantar told news.com.au.
“I didn’t know what they were referring to. After which because the day went on, I received increasingly texts from relatives here and overseas.”
When Mr. Kalantar, a self-described “suburban Sydney guy” looked into it further, he was shocked to learn his every day TikToks analyzing the case had been featured in the worldwide Netflix series.
“Nobody’s more surprised by my success than I’m. It’s a really weird situation.”
The three-part docuseries examines the role of social media within the trail of the Hollywood actors and shows each testimonies side-by-side for the primary time.
Throughout the trial, Mr. Kalantar, whose videos on the subject collectively amassed tens of millions of views, used his decade-long legal experience to dissect key moments of the highly talked about trial.
“You might tell that this trial was going to be enormously necessary, type of just like the O.J. Simpson trial but for our generation,” Mr. Kalantar said, who goes by the handle ‘jahankalantarofficial’ on TikTok.
“What I actually tried to do is bring the lens of I’m a lawyer, that is how I take a look at it, and explain it as I saw it.”
Mr Kalantar, said it was “weird” to see his followers grow from 60,000 to 300,000 through the trial, after he began sharing clips two years ago during lockdown.
“Waking up and having 4000 or 5000 recent followers may be very strange. But I’m so grateful.”
One among his popular videos, which featured within the Netflix docuseries, saw Mr Kalantar predict Depp’s victory following Heard’s cross-examination within the trial.
“When Miss Heard was being cross-examined, she, for my part, took so many positions that were simply untenable, that her credibility was shaken substantially. And in a defamation case, credibility is a large issue.
“So when the cross-examination, which was masterfully done by Miss Vasquez, was accomplished, I used to be quietly confident that their side would probably take it … It was a reasonably convincing cross-examination that, for my part, answered a few of those defamation questions that had been open to the jury.”
Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in defamation compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in June 2022 after the jury decided she “acted with actual malice” when she identified herself – without naming her ex-husband – as a “public figure representing domestic violence” in a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post.
The jury agreed with one aspect of Heard’s claim — that she was defamed by Depp’s lawyer — and awarded her $2m in compensation and $0 in punitive fees.
Looking back, Mr Kalantar said there was numerous reasons the case captivated the interest of tens of millions all over the world, with no other case “coming close” to the extent of social media engagement.
“We all the time wish to know the way the opposite half live so it’s inherently interesting to see what’s happening with two Hollywood celebrities who’ve been married for a extremely, really small period of time breaking up, and particularly when there’s been that level of vitriol between them.”
“We also should be very cognisant of the impact this [trial] may need on survivors of sexual abuse, sexual trauma, intimate partner violence and domestic violence. And it covered an entire bunch of very topical themes that basically were interesting to everyone.”
He said there was no doubt public perception of the trial was influenced by social media – something that might be a priority if it were to proceed to occur for other cases.
“People began to take sides very assertively, [they were] either team Johnny or team Amber. And I believe that there’s a danger in that while you don’t know all of the facts.”
“I believe that ultimately the end result [of the trial] was the suitable one. Nevertheless, I believe it’s a priority when the court perhaps makes a finding a method, and most of the people looks at it a special way.
“That’s something that if we don’t discover a approach to properly, buttress and resolve, we may need issues moving forward.”
Within the meantime, Mr Kalantar continues to share videos breaking down complicated cases to his greater than 360,000 TikTok followers.
“I used to think that individuals weren’t curious about the law. Now I realised they have an interest,” he said.
“It’s just that nobody’s ever reached out to show them. And having a probability to coach people about this amazing thing called the law has been one in all the best privileges of my life.”
