Kate Moss has denied Amber Heard’s claim that Johnny Depp pushed her down the stairs during their relationship in the 1990s as she took the stand in the couple’s defamation trial.
Ms Moss testified for only a few minutes on Wednesday via video link, saying that she did fall down a set of stairs while the couple were on holiday in Jamaica and that Mr Depp helped her up and cared for her at the time.
“We were leaving the room, Johnny left before I did, and there had been a rain storm,” she said. “As I left the room, I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back.
“I screamed, because I didn’t know what had happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me and carried me back to my room, and got me medical attention.”
Asked about the relationship as a whole, which lasted from 1994 until 1998, Ms Moss said:“He never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs.”
The defence declined to cross-examine Ms Moss.
After her testimony concluded, a source close to Ms Heard told The Independent: “So Johnny Depp didn’t abuse Kate Moss. That makes him 1 for 2 in the abuse column.
“But, to date, he’s 0 for 1 in the courtroom on the central issue in this case back when he lost the same exact case in England. And when the jury deliberates over the singular issue in this case -- whether Amber Heard can exercise her right of Freedom of Speech --- he’ll be 0 for 2, no matter how much his lawyers try to distract and divert the jury’s attention.”
Ms Moss’ name came up in the courtroom earlier this month during Ms Heard’s testimony, when she described a time that Mr Depp allegedly “[swung] at” her sister while she had her back to a staircase.
Ms Heard said this reminded her of another incident during which she alleges Mr Depp pushed Ms Moss down stairs while they were dating in the 1990s.
“I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs,” Ms Heard said.
The Aquaman actress had previously made the claim during Mr Depp’s 2020 trial against The Sun in the UK, per The Associated Press: “He was about to push her down the stairs and the moment before that happened, I remembered information I had heard that he pushed a former girlfriend — I believe it was Kate Moss — down the stairs.”
Ms Moss and Mr Depp dated for about four years beginning in 1994. Their relationship was often described by the press as tumultuous, particularly after an incident in 1994 when Mr Depp was arrested for criminal mischief after allegedly trashing a hotel room he shared with Ms Moss, People reported.
Until her testimony on Wednesday, Ms Moss had never publicly responded to Ms Heard’s claim that Mr Depp pushed her down the stairs - which he denies.
After Ms Heard mentioned Ms Moss in her testimony as part of the US case, Mr Depp’s attorney Ben Chew was seen giving an apparent fist pump, prompting speculation that the mention of Ms Moss could benefit Mr Depp’s legal team in some way.
Broderick Dunn, an attorney based in Virginia, told Fox5 that “since Heard brought up Depp’s alleged prior bad acts, she may have opened the door to her own”, per the website.
That speculation came to fruition on 17 May during cross-examination of Ms Heard, where she was asked about a 2009 arrest for domestic violence involving her then-partner Tasya van Ree.
The alleged incident was reported in 2016 by TMZ, which wrote that Ms Heard “allegedly grabbed and struck [Ms van Ree] in the arm, which upset [Ms van Ree] and triggered the arrest”.
The prosecution declined to file charges when Ms Heard appeared in court the following day, People reported in 2016.
Ms van Ree in 2016 shared a statement with Variety which read: “In 2009, Amber was wrongfully accused for an incident that was misinterpreted and over-sensationalized by two individuals in a power position.”
When questioned in court, Ms Heard denied committing domestic violence against Ms van Ree or assaulting her. She alleged the story was “planted” after she obtained a temporary restraining order against Mr Depp in 2016.
