Evan Rachel Wood Clarifies Stance on Amber Heard Trolling, Divides Fans

Evan Rachel Wood has clarified her stance on Amber Heard's treatment on social media after posting a report about targeted trolling during the Johnny Depp defamation trial.

The Westworld actress has appeared to distance herself from Heard and criticized the media for reporting on her post from yesterday. She has also upset some fans by seemingly comparing Heard to Harvey Weinstein. The Weinstein comparison has since been deleted.

Wood is herself being sued for defamation by her ex, Marilyn Manson, after she alleged that she was subjected to domestic abuse at the hands of the shock rocker during their relationship. He denies the allegations.

On July 20, Wood took to Instagram to share a report about the social media response to Heard throughout (and after) her court battle with Depp.

It was previously reported that certain pro-Depp trolls are beginning to turn on Wood—another high-profile woman making accusations against a high-profile male celebrity.

Wood shared the findings from a report by Bot Sentinel, a nonpartisan group dedicated to uncovering and exposing online bots, and how they're used.

The report states that with Heard, they "observed [...] one of the worst cases of cyberbullying and cyberstalking by a group of Twitter accounts that we've ever seen," and noted that 627 accounts were apparently created for the sole purpose of tweeting about the defamation trial, mocking or otherwise targeting Heard and her supporters.

The report also noted that a similar scenario was taking place with accounts being set up to target Wood following her allegations against Manson.

Newsweek contacted Wood's representatives for comment but received no response.

Newsweek then reported that Wood shared the report and that it indicated possible support for Heard amidst the targeted harassment.

On July 21, Wood posted screenshots of Newsweek's coverage, and said that headlines such as "Evan Rachel Wood Seemingly Supports Amber Heard Following Trial Verdict" are putting her in danger.

"If you are worried about my feed being flooded with hate, then I would steer clear of headlines that put me in danger, such as these, which are not based on facts," she wrote on her Instagram story.

Newsweek has again asked Wood's representatives to comment on this statement.

In another story, Wood added: "No matter what I say it WILL be taken out of context. And since social media has proven time and again NOT to be the place to have nuanced conversations, and the media wants clickbait, especially when you speak out against abuse, I will reinstate my original comment about my stance on the matter, which was 'no comment.'"

In two further stories, which have now been deleted, Wood posted photographs of her with Amber Heard at an event years ago and wrote: "Oh look a photo from 2015 that keeps circulating trying to 'prove' something. When in actuality this photo was taken at an event honoring my stylist, who also styled JD. I arrived alone and was seated at this table. With certain logic, everyone who was seen in a photo with Weinstein would have to be a rapist."

She is now facing some backlash on Twitter for seemingly comparing Heard to Weinstein, a convicted rapist.

"It's hard to believe that she has the audacity to post this after reading and posting about Amber's targeted harassment report yesterday, knowing full & well this will only lead to more hate and death threats for Amber. Truly disappointing," reads one tweet.

While another added: "honestly expected more from evan rachel wood, she as a person who is attacked daily on the internet should know how amber feels and how important support is, im completely disappointed."

Eve Barlow, a journalist and vocal supporter of Heard tweeted: "Evan Rachel Wood: whatever you say about your IG stories being taken out of context, it looks like you're calling Amber an abuser, and you're comparing her to Weinstein. All the best with your case. I'm sure you're terrified but this is not it."

Newsweek has contacted Wood's representatives to clarify her comments about Weinstein and Heard.

Wood first publicly named Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, as her alleged abuser in a post on Instagram on February 1, 2021, in which she claimed Manson had "horrifically abused [her] for years" and said she was "brainwashed and manipulated" by him.

Manson has vehemently denied all allegations made against him and has launched a defamation lawsuit against Wood over her Phoenix Rising documentary about her allegations.