INTERVIEW

#MeToo in the music industry: meet the women fighting back

Dorothy Carvello was 24 when she went to work at Atlantic Records, where sexism, harassment and assault were part of office life. Step forward Camille Vasquez, who aims to expose the industry’s predatory bosses

Camille Vasquez, 38, and, right, her client, Dorothy Carvello, 60. ‘It’s not just about me. It’s about all the women who are silenced and cannot tell their stories’
Camille Vasquez, 38, and, right, her client, Dorothy Carvello, 60. ‘It’s not just about me. It’s about all the women who are silenced and cannot tell their stories’
TOM JACKSON FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE
Sean O’Neill
The Times

A few days before we are due to meet, Dorothy Carvello emails from New York to say she’ll be bringing the silver silk shirt Michael Hutchence gave her and will be accompanied by one of her attorneys, Camille Vasquez.

“She’s from the Johnny Depp trial,” Carvello adds.

A little frantic googling and double-checking follows.

That Camille Vasquez?

Yes, the Camille Vasquez. The white-suited lawyer whose methodical, ruthless cross-examination of Amber Heard decimated the actress’s case and secured courtroom victory for Depp in the most talked about trial of 2022. The woman who was propelled overnight to celebrity status, TikTok stardom and Depphead adulation. And who inevitably became the focus of multiple (wholly inaccurate) stories of romantic links to her actor client.

Johnny Depp and Camille Vasquez in court in May last year
Johnny Depp and Camille Vasquez in court in May last year
GETTY IMAGES

Having successfully represented Depp