Actress tells court the A-lister ‘shoved my sister too’
ACTRESS Amber Heard told the High Court yesterday she had heard her ex-husband Johnny Depp once pushed Kate Moss down the stairs.
The revelation came as Ms Heard, 34, said she’d punched Mr Depp in the face with a closed fist – but it was to protect her sister, who she feared was about to be pushed down different stairs in the same way.
Amber also claimed that Mr Depp had sexually and physically assaulted her during “a three-day hostage situation” in Australia, which left her with extensive injuries.
She was speaking on her second day of testimony as she appeared as the star witness for The Sun newspaper, which is being sued for libel by Mr Depp, 57, over a 2018 article that labelled him a “wife beater”.
Ms Heard, who married the Hollywood A-lister in February 2015, said he subjected her to years of violence and she stood up for herself for the first time in March 2015, when she feared her sister Whitney, 31, would suffer “a fatal injury”.
She said: “I did strike Johnny that day in defence of my sister. He was about to push her down the stairs.
“The moment before, I remembered information I had heard he pushed a former girlfriend, I believe it was Kate Moss, down the stairs.
“I had heard this rumour from two people and it was fresh in my mind. I thought of that moment and in a flash I acted in defence of her.”
Mr Depp dated supermodel Kate in the 1990s. Ms Heard said the only time she had “landed a blow” was during the March 2015 incident and that “for years I was Johnny’s punching bag and never hit back.”
The alleged attack happened after they returned from Australia where Mr Depp had been filming the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Ms Heard said they argued after she found texts that showed he had cheated on her. She claimed he then started smashing things up in their Los Angeles penthouse.
Whitney stepped in between them as he tried to attack Amber on the mezzanine level,Amber said.
“She had her back to the stairs and I remember being really scared that she was going to fall down the stairs. I lunged at Johnny to stop him from hurting my sister and struck him to protect her.”
Mr Depp is also alleged to have struck the sisters with a plaster cast that was on his arm after one of his fingers was severed during an incident at the couple’s rented property in Australia.
Earlier, the court heard that Mr Depp trashed a New York hotel room, causing £8,000 of damage, when he was staying there in 1994 with Ms Moss. He claimed she slept through the episode and he denied ever being violent towards her.
Eleanor Laws QC, representing Mr Depp, accused Ms Heard of “changing your story” and pointed out she’d never mentioned the alleged incident with Kate before.
She said Ms Heard was “making this up as you go along...to make your account more credible.”
Ms Heard, describing the alleged attacks by Mr Depp in Australia, said she had been “strangled, assaulted, punched, sexually assaulted among other things”. At one point, “he had
‘It was in defence of my sister’... Amber’s sibling Whitney, at the front, leaves court after 2nd day of evidence
me up against the fridge and he grabbed the front of my gown and ripped it open, so at some point I was bare chested.
“He was mocking me, touching my breasts. He ripped off the rest of the gown so I was naked. He grabbed me by my breasts and kept shoving me up against the fridge.”
She then said she feared he was “going to kill me” after “pressing so hard on my neck I couldn’t breathe. I was saying, ‘Johnny, stop, please,’ but it was like he couldn’t hear me.
“The best way I can describe what happened is that it was like a threeday hostage situation. It is the worst thing I have ever been through.
“I was left with an injured lip and nose and cuts on my arms.”
She denied claims by Ms Laws that the cuts were inflicted by herself, saying: “I have never selfharmed. Johnny is a self-harmer.”
Ms Heard also said it was “unimaginable” she was responsible for the mess left in Mr Depp’s bed in an incident dubbed “poogate”.
She blamed their pet dog Boo, saying the teacup Yorkshire terrier had been unable to control himself after eating a bag of Depp’s weed.
Ms Heard said: “Frankly, I can’t fathom what adult would ever do such a thing. I can’t imagine what kind of human being would have a sense of humour like that, other than Johnny.”
She also denied blackmailing him with a list of demands after filing for divorce.The hearing continues.