Duolingo blasted for making joke about Amber Heard on TikTok

Language-learning website Duolingo has come under fire for allegedly joking about the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard court case.

Depp and his former wife Heard are currently in the process of a defamation trial – Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million over an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post in 2018.

In the piece, Depp wasn’t explicitly named, but Heard claimed that she is a survivor of domestic abuse.

Heard is also countersuing for $100 million, claiming that going public with details of their marriage has caused her career to suffer.

The trial has been televised live and clips of particular moments have been reposted on social media.

The social media team for Duolingo has faced criticism for becoming involved in the controversial trial where both sides are claiming to be the victim of domestic abuse by posting a comment on an NBC TikTok video of the trial.

Twitter user Chris Harihar posted a screenshot appearing to show the official TikTok account for Duolingo, writing: “y’all think amber watches tiktok.”

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Harihar tweeted, writing:” “On what planet does a brand - even @duolingo - think it’s cool to crack jokes about an alleged victim of domestic violence?

“The Depp fandom bubble on TikTok is very real but no brand should get anywhere near it.”

The comment from Duolingo appears to have been deleted, but social media users reacted to the screengrab posted on Twitter.

“Christ this is vile,” one Twitter user wrote.

Someone else wrote: “pandering is a disease.”

Another person wrote: “Ummmm @duolingo can you tell me in 10 languages what the service you’re selling has any relation to this case?”

“I'm going to cancel my Duolingo PLUS subscription due to this thank you,” someone else said.

Indy100 has contacted Duolingo for comment.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.