Photo: Your Tango
Kate Moss discusses how she was encouraged to testify for Johnny Depp during his talked-about defamation trial against Amber Heard.
The supermodel known for not sitting in public interviews became a rebuttal witness for Depp this May, disproving hearsay that he pushed her down the stairs. Moss told BBC Radio’s Desert Island Discs that she felt obligated to reveal the actual occurrences when asked about the reason behind her participation in court.
Moss gave John Galliano, a former Dior designer charged with anti-Semitic abuse in 2011 after he spits public insults at a Paris bar, as an example, when asked about Depp and Amber Heard’s trial.
“I believe in the truth, and I believe in fairness and justice,” Moss stated. “I know that John Galliano is not a bad person. He had an alcohol problem, and people turn.”
She continued: “People aren’t themselves when they drink, and they say things that they would never say if they were sober,” adding, “I know the truth about Johnny. I know he never kicked me down the stairs. I had to say that truth.”
Amber Heard Cited Kate Moss
Heard claimed in court that Depp physically, verbally and sexually assaulted her, adding that her ex-husband frequently became eruptive under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
In her testimony, she said that Depp pushed Moss down the stairs while recounting the first time she hit Depp. However, she claimed it was self-defense.
“I just instantly think of Kate Moss and the stairs, and I swung at him,” Heard claimed. “In all my relationships to date, I hadn’t [delivered] a blow. For the first time, I hit him square in the face.”
The mention of Moss’s name laid the foundations for her to be summoned as a witness. In a pre-recorded testimony, the supermodel, who went out with Depp between 1994 and 1998, said Depp “never pushed me, kicked me, or threw me down any stairs.”
The couple’s vacation in Jamaica was where the alleged incident happened.
“We were leaving the room, and Johnny left the room before I did,” Moss testified. “There had been a rainstorm. As I left the room, I slid down the stairs, and I hurt my back, and 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.”
Depp Won the Favor of the Jury
A Fairfax County, Virginia jury issued a verdict in June, ruling that Heard willfully and maliciously defamed Depp when she wrote a 2018 op-ed for Washing Post claiming she was a domestic abuse survivor.
Depp was granted $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. However, shortly after the declaration, the judge lowered the punitive damages to $350,000 – the statutory cap in Virginia.
On the other hand, Heard gained a small countersuit win of $2 million in compensatory damages. And last week, her team filed a motion to appeal the verdict.
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment,” said a spokesperson for the Aquaman star. “We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Read also: Johnny Depp Wins Defamation Case, Compensated $15 Million in Damages
