Kate Moss kept it short Wednesday while testifying at the Virginia defamation trial going on between former spouses Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: He didn’t do what that old rumor alleged he did.
“He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs,” Moss said of Depp while appearing via live video from Gloucestershire, England.
The British supermodel, who was in a relationship with the “Edward Scissorhands” actor from 1994 to 1998, was asked by Depp’s attorney to describe what happened when the then-couple were on a vacation in Jamaica years ago.
“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,” she said.
“And I screamed, ’cause I didn’t know what happened to me and I was in pain. He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical attention.”
An objection shut down Moss’ answer as to why she chose to testify in this case. There was no cross-examination.
Later Wednesday, during his own rebuttal testimony, Depp said Moss told the story exactly as it had happened. He said he had shared the anecdote with Heard when they were caught in a downpour during their relationship.
“Ms. Heard took the story and turned it into a very ugly incident, all in her mind,” Depp said. “There was never a moment where I pushed Kate down any flight of stairs.”
As for speculation about the incident, the actor said, “I’d never heard a rumor of that before Ms. Heard grabbed hold of it.”
Moss was brought as a Depp rebuttal witness after Heard described in direct testimony an alleged night of violence at Depp’s hands, when she said she moved to protect her sister, Whitney Henriquez.
“Her back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her,” Heard said in her testimony, in which she also described alleged sexual assaults by her ex. “I don’t hesitate, I don’t wait — I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs.”
After she said that, Depp attorney Benjamin Chew did a small, celebratory fist-pump, knowing that the door to Moss testifying had been opened. Heard had already testified in Depp’s U.K. defamation trial that she had “heard the rumor he pushed an ex-girlfriend down the stairs — I think it was Kate Moss.”
Henriquez is Heard’s only eyewitness to alleged violence by Depp.
The trial, which is hearing both Depp’s $50 million defamation claim against his ex-wife and her $100 million countersuit, continues through this week, with closing arguments scheduled for Friday. It is being broadcast and streamed live via CourtTV and other outlets.
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