Depp vs. Heard Court Case is Reddit’s Biggest Celebrity Lawsuit, Data Reveals

The world has been gripped by the ongoing coverage of Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard, which had been live streamed since April 11th and due to continue for weeks as legal professionals and the public alike all debate the result of the case.

However, it’s not just this legal case that has captivated public attention both here and across the pond; invasion of privacy, copyright conflicts and even the use of frozen embryos has been challenged in public courts over the last decade, generating enormous amounts of public interest on social media.

Seeking to find out which celebrity lawsuit is the most talked about online, UpCounsel.com (upcounsel.com) generated a seed list of court cases from esteemed sources, scraping thousands of Reddit comments and upvotes, thus crowning the most shocking celebrity lawsuit of the last decade.

The Top 10 Celebrity Court Cases, Ranked 

Ranking

Celebrity Lawsuit

Case description

Total Combined Upvotes and Comments on Reddit

#1

Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard

Defamation in a national paper

148,649

#2

Britney Spears vs. Jamie Spears

Conservatorship

127,854

#3

Scarlett Johannson vs. Disney

For releasing a film via Disney Plus, not cinemas

108,189

#4

Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan vs. Harvey Weinstein

Industry-wide sexual assault and bullying

66,134

#5

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop vs. California

Health benefits of 'jade egg'

56,454

#6

Bill Cosby vs. Lili Bernard

Drug and rape allegations

53,319

#7

Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker

Sex tape illegally released

32,667

#8

Keira Knightley vs. Daily Mail

Defamation after death of anorexic teen

19,241

#9

Marvin Gaye vs. Robin Thicke/Pharell Williams

Plagiarism of music

17,462

#10

Justin Bieber vs. 'Danielle'

Sexual assault allegations

16,039

The Top 3 …

Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard—148,649 Upvotes

Incredibly, the defamation trial featuring Hollywood stars Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has already amassed the most subreddit upvotes of all the celebrity legal cases in the last 10 years. The trial ended on the 1st of June, with Heard having been found guilty of defamation and being instructed by the court to pay damages of $15million. This case has been closely watched by people all over the world, with full TV and web coverage available during every period of the trial, with that certainly having an effect on the huge quantity of upvotes; 148,649.

Britney Spears vs. Jamie Spears—127,854 Upvotes

Data has revealed that the most talked about celebrity lawsuit was the case between Britney Spears and her controlling father Jamie Spears. The hotly contested conservatorship was terminated by a US judge, resulting in personal and financial freedom for the musician. Fans launched the #FreeBritney campaign on social media, gaining a huge following. Indeed, on Reddit alone this case got a remarkable 127, 854 upvotes and comments from the top 5 subreddits alone.

Scarlett Johannson vs. Disney—105,613 Upvotes

With just over a hundred thousand comments and upvotes (105,613), the breach of contract case between Scarlett Johannson and Disney is in second place. The Hollywood star Scarlett Johannson accused Disney for sacrificing Black Widow’s box office potential to promote its new Disney+ streaming service, leading to a breach of contract where an exclusive theatrical release was guaranteed.  

In light of the Platinum Jubilee, Royalty makes an appearance … 

Rank

Celebrity Lawsuit

Case description

Total Comments & Upvotes on Reddit

20

Meghan Markle vs. Associated Newspapers

Invasion of privacy

1,049

21

Kate Middleton vs. Closer Magazine

Invasion of privacy

845

Meghan Markle vs. Associated Newspapers—1,049 combined comments and upvotes 

With 1,049 combined upvotes and comments on Reddit, the case of Meghan Markle vs. Associated Newspapers Ltd took the media world by storm. In 2019, the actress and wife of Prince Harry took the newspaper group to court over an alleged breach of privacy, with a deeply personal letter sent by Meghan to her father being published by the press. After a 3-year long battle, Meghan won the initial suit and the Court of Appeals case, setting new legal precedence over rights to privacy.

Kate Middleton vs. Closer Magazine—845 combined comments and upvotes 

A combined 845 upvotes and comments across prevalent subreddits highlights the lawsuit between Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, and celebrity news outlet Closer to be smaller than others investigated, but still hugely noteworthy. The case pertains to paparazzi shots obtained and published by Closer in 2022 that show the Duchess sunbathing topless in a private chateau in France. 

We hope you find this information useful. If you do decide to use it, please provide a link to upcounsel.com who commissioned this data and research. You can find access to the full datasheet.

Methodology

  1. UpCounselsought to establish the most talked about celebrity lawsuit of the last decade, based on data from social network Reddit.

  2. To find this, UpCounsel created a seed list of 20 notable celebrity lawsuits which have now concluded, with the list curated and sourced from reputable sources such as Hollywood Reporter, SheKnows, Hola, The News and Haute Living.

  3. Once a seed list had been defined, UpCounsel utilised Reddit to discover the most googled and prevalent subreddit threads, having searched “celebrity lawsuit reddit”.

  4. UpCounsel noted the quantity of upvotes per subreddit, to increase accurate figures of engagement. This process was repeated for four more subreddits with the most engagement per lawsuit, again for increased accuracy.

  5. Due to Reddit restrictions, subreddits containing Donald Trump were not available.

  6. Once data collection was complete, the quantity of upvotes and comments were added together and ranked, with the highest score at the top.

  7. All data was collected on 01/06/2022. This piece used live figures and therefore is subject to change.