Kate Moss: ‘Johnny Depp never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs’
British supermodel Kate Moss has testified at Johnny Depp’s defamation trial about a rumour involving a staircase that has damaged the case against the Hollywood star.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
British supermodel Kate Moss has testified at Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard about an incident where he allegedly pushed her down a flight of stairs during their tumultuous relationship.
Moss, who dated Depp from 1994-1998, appeared via video link from Gloucestershire, England, in the Fairfax County Court in Virginia, US on Wednesday.
Her brief testimony focused solely on allegations made by Heard that she’d heard a rumour her ex-husband, Depp, assaulted Moss when they were on a trip at the GoldenEye resort in Jamaica.
Asked if Depp, 58, ever pushed her down any stairs, Moss, 48, said: “no”.
“He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs,” she added.
Under questioning, the famously-private model continued to shut down Heard’s claim, explaining that she had slipped on the stairs and Depp had actually come to her aid.
“We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did,” Moss continued.
“There had been a rainstorm and as I left the room, I slid down the stairs.
“I hurt my back and I screamed because I didn’t know what happened to me and I was in pain.”
Moss said Depp then “came running back to help” her and carried her back to the room and seeking “medical attention”.
It came after Heard previously testified that her sister was near a staircase “in the line of fire … trying to get Johnny to stop” a physical assault which reminded her of a rumoured incident between Moss and Depp.
“(Whitney’s) back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her,” Heard told the court.
“I don’t hesitate, I don’t wait — I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs.”
That reference – which Heard also brought up in Depp’s UK defamation trial in 2020 – provided an opening to Depp’s lawyers to call Moss as a witness to address the allegation.
Heard’s team declined to cross examine Moss whose testimony ultimately lasted just four minutes.
Later on Wednesday, Depp’s team called him back to the stand as one of several rebuttal witnesses.
“Exactly what happened is what she said happened.” Depp told the court in response to Moss’ testimony.”
Depp testified that he had told Heard about Moss slipping on the stairs but claimed she later twisted the story to use it against him in court.
“I recall speaking with Ms Heard about that very incident because of the downpouring of rain … it was raining very heavily,” he said.
“I left the bungalow (then) suddenly rain was coming down like a monsoon.
“I remember looking and seeing Kate coming out the door (then she) slipped and landed directly on her coccyx on her back.
“And she was obviously physically in pain. She was hurt, she was crying. So I went over to make sure she was all right. That’s it.”
Depp said Heard “took the story and turned it into a very ugly incident”.
“There was never a moment where I pushed Kate down any set of stairs,” he added.
“I’d never heard a rumour of that before Ms Heard grabbed hold of it.”
STRIKING NEW EVIDENCE AGAINST DEPP
On cross examination, Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn introduced striking evidence in which Depp appears to have written a text message that a woman’s “p---y is RIGHTFULLY MINE!!!!!”
“Should I not just bust in and remove its hinges tonight???” Depp also wrote in the message sent from his phone on February 22, 2017.
“I want to change her understanding of what it is like to be thrashed around like a pleading Mackrel … I NEED. I WANT. I TAKE.”
Depp denied writing the texts to his assistant Steve Deuters, though the messages came from his number. Depp suggested someone else might have “borrowed” his phone.
“That’s quite a grotesque text,” he told his lawyer on redirect.
The texts referenced a woman named “Molly,” but it’s unclear who that is.
Another text message brought into evidence showed that Depp expressed a desire to get Heard fired from Aquaman after she filed a temporary restraining order against him in 2016.
“I wanted her replaced on that WB (Warner Bros.) film!!!” Depp wrote to his sister on June 4, 2016, according to the message read in court.
Depp denied it, and said he reached out to Warner Bros. execs because he had “vetted” Heard.
Heard’s lawyer read a text message previously heard in court in which Depp allegedly wrote the actress was “begging for total global humiliation.”
“She’s gonna get it,” Depp apparently wrote to his former talent agent, Christian Carino, who is also the ex-fiancé of singer and actress Lady Gaga.
In the August 2016 message, Depp hurled a series of insults at Heard as he referred to her then-boyfriend Elon Musk as “Mollusk.”
“I have no mercy, no fear and not an ounce of emotion, or what I once thought was love for this gold digging, low level, dime a dozen, mushy, pointless dangling overused flappy fish market …”
“I’m so f---ing happy she wants to go to fight this out!!! She will hit the wall hard!!!” Depp went on. “And I cannot wait to have this waste of a c– guzzler out of my life!!!”
Referring to a new relationship at the time, Depp said: “I met a f---ing sublime little Russian here … Which made me realise the time I blew on that 50 cent stripper … I wouldn’t touch her with a goddamn glove.”
“I can only hope that karma kicks in and take the gift of breath from her … Sorry, man … But, NOW, I will stop at nothing!!! Let’s see if mollusk has a pair. Come see me face-to-face … I’ll show him things he’s never seen before … Like, the other side of his d– k when I slice it off.”
DEPP SLAMS HEARD’S ALLEGATIONS” ‘SAVAGE’
Asked by his lawyer about his thoughts on the basis of his high profile defamation trial, Depp used a string of words to describe it, including: “Insane. Horrible. Ridiculous, humiliating. Ludicrous, painful. Savage. Unimaginably brutal, cruel”.
“And all false,” he said.
“It’s insane to hear heinous accusations of violence, sexual violence that she’s accused me of.
“I don't think anyone enjoys having to split themselves open and tell the truth but there are times when one simply has to because it’s gotten out of control.
“No human being is perfect, certainly not. None of us. But I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse. All these outlandish, outrageous stories of me committing these things. And living with it for six years and waiting to be able to bring the truth out. So this is not easy for any of us. I know that. But no matter what happens, I did get here and I did tell the truth. And I have spoken up for what I’ve been carrying on my back reluctantly for six years.”
Responding to Depp’s testimony, a source close to Heard said described his “return to the stand” as his “last stand”.
“His last chance to change the subject and mislead the jury. Don’t mistake charm for candour, or snark for sincerity,” the source said in a statement released by Heard’s representatives and provided to News Corp Australia.
“What we’re witnessing isn’t testimony, it’s a performance.
“If he’d been this good the last few years, he would have gotten those roles he lost.”
Depp filed the suit against Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Depp, 36, during his four days on the witness stand, denied ever physically assaulting Heard and claimed she was the one who was frequently violent.
Heard, who had a starring role in Aquaman, did not name Depp in the article, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $US50m ($A72m) in damages.
The Texas-born Heard countersued for $US100m ($A144m), accusing him of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.
British supermodel and #JohnnyDepp's ex #KateMoss testified that Depp did NOT push her down the stairs during a trip in Jamaica. @LawCrimeNetworkpic.twitter.com/1jjpoD5Rn7
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) May 25, 2022
The counterclaim alleges Depp’s then-lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard when he called her abuse allegations a hoax.
On Tuesday, Depp’s rebuttal started with Warner Bros. executive Walter Hamada taking the stand. He testified virtually about Heard’s contract for the Aquaman franchise, saying it was not affected by alleged defamatory remarks from Depp, as Heard’s legal team alleged.
On the contrary, a Hollywood expert called by Heard’s team, Kathryn Arnold, earlier said Heard’s career was “on the precipice of a meteoric rise” following Aquaman but it has been stymied by a “lot of negative publicity.” Arnold estimated that Heard has suffered between $45 and $50 million in lost film and TV roles and endorsements.
Depp’s lawyers also put experts on the stand who testified that he has lost millions because of the abuse accusations, including a $US22.5m ($A32m) payday for a sixth instalment of Pirates. Depp filed the defamation complaint in the United States after losing a separate libel case in London in November 2020 that he brought against The Sun newspaper for calling him a “wife-beater.”
Depp, a three-time Oscar nominee, and Heard met in 2009 on the set of The Rum Diary and were married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalised two years later.
The judge has scheduled closing arguments in the case for May 27, after which it will go to the jury.
Originally published as Kate Moss: ‘Johnny Depp never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs’
Fireball as Israel ‘attacks’ Russia air base
Iran’s leader is poleaxed by fear that Israeli spies have infiltrated those around him while Israel has reportedly targeted a Syrian air base used by Russia.
Aussie shares flat with all eyes on Israel
The sharemarket inched higher on Thursday as investors braced for Israel’s response to Iranian missile and terror attacks and the release of crucial US jobs data.