Kate Moss Testifies About Rumor That Johnny Depp Pushed Her Down Steps

Kate Moss denied the rumor that Johnny Depp pushed her down a staircase when they dated in the 1990s. Moss, 48, testified via live video link Wednesday morning in the Fairfax, Virginia courtroom where Depp's $50 million defamation trial against Amber Heard is playing out. Heard referenced the [...]

Kate Moss Testifies About Rumor That Johnny Depp Pushed Her Down Steps

Kate Moss denied the rumor that Johnny Depp pushed her down a staircase when they dated in the 1990s. Moss, 48, testified via live video link Wednesday morning in the Fairfax, Virginia courtroom where Depp’s $50 million defamation trial against Amber Heard is playing out. Heard referenced the rumor during her testimony earlier in the trial.

Moss and Depp dated from 1994 to 1998. There were rumors that Depp once pushed the British supermodel down a flight of stairs while vacationing in Jamaica. Moss said she did trip down a staircase, but it was not because Depp pushed her.

(Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did. There had been a rainstorm. As I left the room, I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back,” Moss told the court, reports PEOPLE. “I screamed because 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.” Moss said Depp “never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs.” Heard’s lawyers did not cross-examine Moss.

Depp returned to the stand on Wednesday as well and corroborated Moss’ testimony. “I remember looking and seeing Kate coming out the door, and there were three little wooden stairs, and she went (makes hand motions) and landed on her lower back,” Depp said, reports The Wrap. “She was in pain, she was crying, so I ran over to grab her to see if she was all right. That’s it, that’s the whole story.”

Earlier this month, Moss’ name entered the court record while Heard testified about an alleged incident in March 2015 that involved herself, Depp, and Heard’s sister, Whitney Henriquez. Heard said her sister came “in the line of fire” while trying to get Depp “to stop” during an alleged argument between Depp and Heard on a staircase. “[Whitney’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.”

Heard claimed this was the first time she struck Depp, 58, and her punch landed “square in the face” of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor. “He didn’t push my sister down the stairs,” Heard said. In her own testimony, Henriquez, 43, said Depp hit her and “repeatedly” struck Heard, 36.

The Aquaman actress also brought up the Moss staircase rumor during Depp’s U.K. defamation trial in 2020, reports the New York Post. “I remembered information I had heard [that] he pushed a former girlfriend – I believe it was Kate Moss – down the stairs. I had heard this rumor from two people and it was fresh in my mind,” Heard testified in a U.K. court. During that trial, Depp’s lawyers accused Heard of “inventing” the rumor. Moss had never spoken about it publicly before she testified Wednesday.

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Depp and Heard married in 2016 and split in May 2016. Heard filed for divorce and asked for a domestic violence restraining order against the actor. Depp denied abusing Heard, and the two settled their divorce out of court in August 2016. In December 2018, Heard published a Washington Post op-ed, describing herself as a victim of domestic violence without naming Depp as her abuser. In early 2019, Depp sued Heard for defamation and claimed she hurt his career.