Come out of the woodwork meaning explained as Amber Heard shades Kate Moss for rejecting her testimony 

American actress Amber Heard took the stand on May 26 and stated that she never not expected Kate Moss, one of Johnny Depp's ex, to take up his defense at the current high-profile defamation trial.

When questioned by Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez if the British supermodel's testimony on Wednesday caught her by surprise, Heard replied in the negative.

“I know how many people will come out of the woodwork to be in support of Johnny.”

In her previous testimony, the Aquaman actress mentioned Moss briefly while detailing a confrontation in which she struck Depp in the face out of concern that he might throw her sister, Whitney Henriquez, down a staircase.

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What did Amber Heard mean by "come out of the woodwork?"

As per Collins Dictionary, when someone says that a person is coming out of the woodwork, they are condemning them for suddenly appearing in public or exposing their thoughts when they previously did not.

So when Amber Heard said that Kate Moss and others would come out of the woodwork to support Depp, she was throwing a shade at the model for not clearing up the alleged rumor before.

At the court, Heard stated at the time that she "immediately thought of Kate Moss and the stairs." Her mention of the fashion icon allowed Depp's lawyers to bring Moss to the stand to refute the claim.

Heard added:

"Everybody who was around in the '90s and the early aughts knew that rumor. I had heard that rumor from multiple people. Of course that's what flashed through my head when my violent husband not only swung for me but all of a sudden swung for my sister. Of course I thought of that."

However, Amber Heard said that Moss showing up "didn't matter."

"I did not expect her to show up or not expect her to show up. It didn't matter. It doesn't change what I believed at the time, when we were on the stairs and I thought he was gonna kill my sister by pushing her down the stairs."

Moss, who testified on May 25, dated Depp from 1994 to 1998.

The model testified that the event occurred while they were on vacation in Jamaica, and that he did not push her and rather she fell on her own:

"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. 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."

When Depp's attorney, Benjamin Chew, asked if Depp had ever pushed her down a staircase, she said:

"He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs."

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Twitter was not happy with Amber Heard's shade on Kate Moss

Johnny Depp supporters on Twitter were not happy with Heard's "come out of the woodwork" remark after Kate Moss testified that the staircase rumor was false.

Depp and Heard got married in 2015, but divorced in May 2016 after Heard filed for divorce and requested a domestic violence restraining order against him. Depp rejected her allegations of abuse, and the former couple reached an out-of-court settlement in August 2016.

Depp is suing Amber Heard for $50 million in defamation over an op-ed she penned in December 2018 about coming out with abuse accusations, though she did not mention him by name. In response, Heard is suing him for defamation and $100 million in damages. She alleges Depp initiated an internet campaign to debunk her charges as "fake" and a "hoax," causing her reputation and career to suffer.