Moss tells Depp trial he was not violent
Supermodel ex-girlfriend of film star rebuts Amber Heard’s allegation during videolink court appearance
Kate Moss came to the defence of Johnny Depp, her former boyfriend, in his $50 million (£40 million) legal battle with Amber Heard, testifying that he had never pushed her down the stairs. The model was called to give evidence after the actor’s former wife made reference to the alleged incident in her testimony last week. Moss appeared for just three minutes but during that time she firmly rebutted the allegation of violence, in what will be claimed as a victory for Depp.
KATE MOSS came to the defence of Johnny Depp, her former boyfriend, in his $50million legal battle with Amber Heard, testifying that he had never pushed her down the stairs.
The British supermodel was called to give evidence after Heard made reference to the alleged incident in her testimony last week.
Followers of the trial in Fairfax county, Virginia, had expected Moss to go into detail about her relationship with Depp, which ran from 1994-98.
In the event, she appeared for just three minutes. But during that time she firmly rebutted the allegation of violence, in what will be claimed as a victory for the Depp team.
Dressed in a smart black jacket and white patterned blouse, Moss gave evidence via videolink from the Cotswolds, where she has a home. The 48-year-old model said she had fallen down the stairs when she and Depp were on holiday at Goldeneye in Jamaica, the resort that was once home to Ian Fleming, the James Bond author.
She was asked by Ben Chew, Depp’s lawyer: “What, if anything, happened when you were in Jamaica with Mr Depp?”
Moss replied: “We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did. And there had been a rainstorm, and as I left the room I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back. And I screamed because I didn’t know what had happened to me and I was in pain, and he came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical attention.”
Asked if Depp had pushed her down the stairs, Moss replied: “No. He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs.”
Mr Chew then asked Moss: “Why did you decide to testify today?”
Heard’s legal team immediately objected, saying that the question was “beyond the scope” of what had been agreed by the court.
Moss was prevented from answering, and her evidence session ended after Heard’s lawyers said they had no questions to ask in cross-examination.
Depp is suing Heard, his ex-wife, for $50 million over a column she wrote in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse. Heard has counter-sued.
Moss was asked to testify as a rebuttal witness after Heard claimed in court that Depp had attempted to hit her sister, Whitney Henriquez, at the top of a flight of stairs.
“Her back was to the staircase and Johnny swings at her,” Heard told the court. “I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs.”
Depp’s lawyer was then seen giving a fistpump, as Heard’s claim allowed them to call Moss as a witness.
The court had heard from another of Depp’s famous former girlfriends, Ellen Barkin, who described him as “jealous” and “controlling”.
In 2020, Depp lost a libel case against The Sun newspaper over an article that labelled him a “wife beater”. During that case, his former partners, Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder, provided statements saying he had never been violent towards them.
Depp returned to the witness stand and gave an identical account of the incident Moss described. He claimed Heard had taken the story “and turned it into a very ugly incident, all in her mind”.
Depp’s team had called him back to rebut Heard, who accused Depp of physical and sexual abuse before and during their brief marriage. Questioned by his attorneys, Depp used a string of adjectives to describe how it felt to listen to Heard’s accounts during the trial. “Horrible, ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage,” he said. “Unimaginably brutal, cruel and false. All false.”
He added: “No human being is perfect. But I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse.”
He also rebutted Heard’s claim that she saw him take between eight and 10 MDMA tablets at once while in Australia to film Pirates of the Caribbean.
Asked if he had taken that many MDMA tablets, Depp replied: “No, I have not. Because I’m pretty sure I’d be dead.” Claiming that Heard was violent during their marriage, he claimed she gave him a “shiner” on their honeymoon.
He repeated his claim that Heard severed his finger by throwing a vodka bottle at him. He said: “It cut the tip of my finger off. A good chunk. I miss it.”
Closing arguments are due today.