Johnny Depp pushed Kate Moss down a flight of stairs, Amber Heard tells court

Amber Heard ‘acted in a flash’ to protect her sister, recalling Johnny Depp ‘pushed a previous girlfriend down the stairs’.

Johnny Depp outside court, left. His former wife, Amber Heard claims he once pushed British model Kate Moss, right, down a flight of stairs. Pictures: Getty Images/Dominique Charriau

Amber Heard claimed that she punched Johnny Depp only once during their tumultuous marriage after recalling he had pushed the British supermodel Kate Moss down a flight of stairs.

Heard told the High Court in London she feared Depp was about to push her younger sister down the stairs during a row after she discovered he was having an affair.

“I recalled that he had pushed a previous girlfriend, Kate Moss, down the stairs,” she said. “I recalled that information and in a flash I acted. For years I had never hit him and I will never forget it.”

Depp, 57, has told the court that he was never violent to Moss, 46, during his three-year relationship in the 1990s.

Amber Heard told court she punched Depp because she feared he was about to push her younger sister down a flight of stairs. Picture: John Phillips/Getty Images

He is suing Dan Wootton, the executive editor of The Sun, and the publisher of the newspaper over an article in 2018 that described him as a “wife beater”.

Heard, 34, said she argued with Depp at their penthouse in Los Angeles in March 2015 after discovering messages “that showed he was cheating on me” a month after their wedding. ‘At ‘At some point he started hitting me’

“Johnny and I were shouting at each other and at some point he started hitting me,” she said. “I recall Whitney [her sister] standing between Johnny and I when he was trying to attack me on the mezzanine level. He pushed Whitney out of the way so he could reach me.

“She had her back to the stairs and I remember being scared that she was going to fall down the stairs. I lunged at Johnny and struck him to protect her.”

Depp grabbed her hair, Heard said, and hit her repeatedly with the plaster cast he had fitted after severing a finger during what she has described as “a three-day hostage situation” in Australia earlier that March. On Tuesday she also claimed Depp sexually assaulted her on that occasion.

She became tearful as she told the court that Depp had throttled her in Australia, where he was filming the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, to the point that she thought she would die. She said that he screamed “You ruined my life, I’m going to f***ing kill you” and made a further abusive threat.

The actress said she was naked and barefoot and as she struggled to escape cut her hands, arms and feet on bottles that Depp had smashed on the floor.

On Tuesday Heard denied having an affair with the technology billionaire Elon Musk or her co-stars during her marriage. She said that she decided to seek a divorce and a restraining order against Depp in May 2016 after being attacked during an argument about who had left excrement in their marital bed. Mr Musk, 49, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, sent her a text message that read: “I am just glad you are OK, you talked about JD being violent in the past.” Mr Musk said that the offer to provide security “would stand, even if you never wanted to see me again”.

Kate Moss and Johnny Depp walk the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival in 1997. Picture: Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Staff at the Los Angeles building where Heard and Depp had a penthouse have claimed Mr Musk had been a regular late-night visitor when Depp was away filming after their wedding.

Heard, a star of the Aquaman superhero film, told the court: “I wasn’t even in contact with Elon until 2016.”

Asked if she had been unfaithful to Depp, she replied: “No, not that that matters much.”

Depp accused Heard of having affairs with at least nine co-stars including James Franco, the court has been told. Heard and Franco, 42, were filmed entering the lift up to the penthouse apartment she shared with Depp the day after the final alleged assault.

The Sun cites 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence, all denied by Depp.

The case continues.

The Times