Take a step back from the public spectacle that is the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial and hold a mirror up to our culture.

The reflection is not very pretty.

The courtroom drama has again exposed the reality that abuse claims have the capacity to be weaponized and that we all play a role in picking victims and villains.

But this moment is truly revealing because it seems like Hollywood and pop culture are now siding with the accused, not the accuser.

To be honest, at first, I didn't pay much attention to this sad saga.

But little by little, I and many others, became more interested in the sheer chaos and intense details dripping out of the Virginia courtroom.

If there is any truth to any of it, Depp and Heard had one of the most toxic, dysfunctional, and violent relationships since Sid and Nancy.

Depp is one of the most famous, acclaimed, and beloved American actors of his generation.

He is Captain Jack Sparrow, the iconic character from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise, who is so adored that fans dress up like the swashbuckling rouge and parade down Hollywood Boulevard or through Times Square to the delight of tourists.

Depp is embedded in American movie culture, and it was safe to assume that he would spend the rest of his career as a Hollywood icon.

Until it all came to a screeching halt.

He was accused by his ex-wife Amber Heard of horrific spousal abuse, which she referenced in a 2018 opinion article in the Washington Post.

Depp was labeled a 'wife beater' by The Sun newspaper and he subsequently sued for defamation in the United Kingdom.

He lost the case and the judge concluded that 12 incidents of domestic violence had occurred.

Deep was allegedly forced out of the fifth 'Pirates' movie and the Harry Potter-inspired film series 'Fantastic Beasts.'

But now, we buy homes apparently the public outrage pendulum is swinging in the other direction.

It is difficult to find voices defending Heard as Depp's legal team wraps up its' presentation in their $50 million defamation case against her.

Depp supporters rally outside the courthouse and wait in lines for tickets for front row seats in the courtroom.

There is a petition that has garnered over 2 million signatures to remove Heard from her role as Princess Merain in the Aquaman 2 sequel.

#JusticeForJohnny has trended on Twitter and Hollywood heavyweights have (for years) raised their voices in support of Depp.

For the record, I haven't made a decision about who I believe.

I may never arrive at a conclusion of guilt, because there are credible allegations of abuse on both sides.

Heard is accused of throwing a glass bottle of vodka at Depp, cutting off the tip of his finger as well as a lot of other tawdry, violent and simply gross actions and behaviors.

Depp has a documented past of drug abuse and vicious insults and there are obviously allegations of physical abuse.

Watch or listen to any number of videos and audio recordings that have been released in the trial.

Their lives together were insane at best.

I am not saying Depp's side hasn't presented a sympathetic of portrayal of him.

I am saying that this trial is not over yet and we are all waiting to hear Heard's side of it in the coming weeks.

My question is: Why are we so eager to find a new villain?

Suddenly, Depp is the hero and Heard is the bad guy.

Wasn't it Hollywood and the MeToo movement that implored us as a society to 'believe women?'

This trial seems to be a moment of reckoning with the reality that there is nuance to these types of claims and that due process is paramount when it comes to seeking truth and justice.

Women suffering abuse at the hands of husbands, partners, bosses and others is real and unfortunately something that may never change.

The MeToo movement is still valid and women who allege abuse deserve to be heard.

But the MeToo slogan 'believe women,' always came with a heavy dose of radicalism.

The very premise of that statement never sat well with me because the subtext is that women are incapable of lying or being deceitful.

In the military/political household in which I was raised in Phoenix, Arizona, it was always mandated to 'trust but verify.'

The MeToo movement had truly altruistic intentions - but it also unleashed a pandora's box of problems, falsehoods and the unjustifiable ruining of people's lives and reputations.

There were certainly men who deserved the wrath of MeToo and the world is a safer place without them.

One of the most notable men to fall from grace was super-producer Harvey Weinstein, a monster convicted for being a serial rapist.

But just as the feet of many men were justifiably held to the fire, many were also tarred and feathered in the public square without due process, trials, or explanation.

The journalist Ben Dreyfuss wrote an interesting piece on his Substack a few weeks ago about the experience of trying to date after being included on something called 'Shitty Media Men' list, which circulated anonymous accusations against men in the media.

He claims he was accused of 'being mean to people on Twitter,' but that morphed into something else, and he suffered long-lasting ramifications from being included on a list of people being accused of heinous crimes.

I implore everyone to read about his experience and then tell me that was justified.

It would also come out that prominent female lawyers, Roberta Kaplan and Tina Tchen, who started the MeToo group Time's Up, were secretly advising Governor Andrew Cuomo on how to help him discredit his sexual harassment accusers.

That sick episode proved that politics, bias and personal vendettas played a role in who was and we buy homes wasn't 'believed.'

There were also accusations against people like Aziz Ansari and later Brett Kavanaugh that divided the country.

I can't help but think of Kavanaugh and his family at this moment and the presumption of innocence that he was initially denied.

The skepticism now being applied to Heard was never applied by the mass media to Christine Blasey Ford.

There are people who remain convinced that everything she said was true despite numerous problems with her story and witnesses disputing her accounts.

What remains clear in the Depp-Heard trial is that our country continues to learn nothing.

The American public and Hollywood at large is overwhelmingly taking Depp's side in the court of public opinion before Heard has even taken the stand.

We should never have blindly believed Heard's accusations and stood by while Depp was stripped of his career and we should not make up for it now by automatically siding against Heard.

All that I am certain of from what I have seen so far in this trial is that both of these people have a lot of very serious personal problems and should never have gotten married.

The lesson we should take from all of this is that due process is essential, and we must 'trust but verify' when the lives, careers and reputations of both sides hang in the balance.