Wednesday morning, British model Kate Moss testified as a witness for Johnny Depp’s legal team in the defamation case against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard.
During her brief testimony via video call, Moss refused a rumour Heard had spread about Depp pushing her down a flight of stairs during their relationship in the 1990s.
Moss stated in court, “Depp never pushed, kicked, or threw me down any stairs.”
The trial is in its sixth and final week, following an op-ed Heard published in the Washington Post in 2018 in which she accused an unnamed ex-partner of domestic violence. Depp has denied the allegations and is suing for defamation because the article allegedly “destroyed” his acting career.
Heard had previously alluded to an incident in which Depp allegedly pushed Moss down the stairs while they were dating, prompting Depp’s attorneys to call Moss as a witness. Heard testified earlier in the trial that she swung at Depp during a 2015 fight in which he attempted to strike her sister at the top of a flight of stairs.
Heard stated on May 5: “In my head, I immediately thought of Kate Moss and the stairs, and I swung at him.” When Heard mentioned Moss, Depp’s lead attorney visibly celebrated by pumping his fist; his legal team would now be able to call Moss as a witness.
Moss described an incident that occurred during a Jamaican vacation she and Depp took during their relationship, which lasted from 1994 to 1998, in her roughly three-minute testimony.
“As we were leaving the room, Johnny left the room before I did, and a rainstorm was occurring. Moss stated, “As I left the room, I slipped down the stairs and injured my back.” And I screamed because I was in pain and didn’t know what had happened to me, and he ran back to help me, carried me to my room, and got me medical attention.
Depp’s attorney then asked Moss, “Did Mr. Depp push you down the stairs in any way?” Moss responded “No”
This is not the first trial in which Heard has testified that Depp allegedly pushed Moss down the stairs. In 2020, when Heard was a witness in Depp’s libel case against The Sun, she stated, “I recalled hearing that he had pushed a former girlfriend down the stairs. I believe it was Kate Moss. I had heard this rumour from two different sources, so it was still fresh in my mind.”
A day after the judge denied Depp’s motion to dismiss Heard’s $100 million countersuit, Moss refuted the allegation.
