Kate Moss On Her Testimony In Johnny Depp, Amber Heard Trial: ‘I had to say that truth’
Kate Moss is standing behind her testimony from the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial.
In May, the British Model, who dated Depp from 1994 to 1997, appeared in court virtually to deny an alleged incident that Heard had mentioned during her graphic four-day testimony.
Moss, 48, opened up the pivotal moment during an interview on BBC radio show “Desert Island Discs” on Sunday.
“I know the truth about Johnny,” she said when asked why she supported her ex. “I know he never kicked me down the stairs. I had to say that truth.”
Depp sued Heard, whom he was married to from 2015 to 2017, for $50 million for writing a Washington Post op-ed in which she referred to herself as a victim of domestic abuse. Although Heard never named Depp, his team argued that the article included “clear implication that Mr. Depp is a domestic abuser.”
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor, 59, denied all allegations of abuse.
In her testimony, Heard, 36, alleged that Depp was physically and sexually abusive. Heard mentioned Moss when she recounted the first time she’d physically struck her ex-husband. Heard said it happened during a fight when she’d attempted to protect her sister, Whitney Henriquez.
Heard said that Henriquez was trying to intervene during an argument between her and Depp at the time.
“(Henriquez’s) back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her,” Heard said. “I don’t hesitate, I don’t wait — I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs, and I swung at him.”
However, Moss said in her testimony that Depp never pushed her down the stairs during their relationship.
“He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs,” Moss told the court.
She then shared more details about the Jamaican vacation with Depp that Heard had referenced.
“We were leaving the room, and Johnny left the room before I did,” Moss explained. “There had been a rainstorm. As I left the room, I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back.”
Moss continued, “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.”
In June 2022, the jury unanimously decided Heard acted with “actual malice” when she wrote her op-ed. On Thursday, Heard filed a motion to appeal the ruling. Less than a day later, Depp submitted a notice of appeal against her as well.
In Moss’ interview with “Desert Island Discs,” the model also defended fashion designer John Galliano, who was fired from his job as Christian Dior’s creative director after an anti-Semitic video of him saying “I love Hitler” went viral.
“I believe in the truth, and I believe in fairness and justice,” she said. “I know that John Galliano is not a bad person — he had an alcohol problem and people turn. People aren’t themselves when they drink, and they say things that they would never say if they were sober.”
In a statement after the viral incident Galliano apologized, writing in a statement that “Anti-semitism and racism have no part in our society.”
“I unreservedly apologise for my behaviour in causing any offence,” he said, according to the Wall Street Journal at the time.
Galliano was charged with “public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity” and a French court found him guilty of anti-Semitic behavior. In court, the New York Times reported, Galliano apologized to the victims, said he remembered nothing about the incidents and that he had been debilitated by job stress and addiction to Valium and alcohol. He was fined 6,000 euros in suspended fines.