“All in her mind”: Johnny Depp claims he never heard Kate Moss staircase incident rumor before Amber Heard’s testimony

On Wednesday, May 25, Johnny Depp returned to the stand at the Fairfax County Court as a rebuttal witness in his ongoing defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. During his testimony, the actor addressed the infamous staircase incident rumor surrounding his former girlfriend, Kate Moss.

Earlier in the trial, Amber Heard claimed that she once heard rumors about Depp pushing Moss down the stairs during a fight while they were in a relationship. She first made this allegation during Depp’s 2020 UK libel trial against the Sun newspaper. At the time, she told the court:

“He pushed Kate Moss down the stairs, I heard this from two people, and this was fresh in my mind.”

In the ongoing defamation trial, Heard alleged that she had a similar staircase fight with Depp involving her sister Whitney, and the situation instantly made her think of “Kate Moss and stairs,” prompting her to hit Depp for the first time.

However, Kate Moss refuted Amber Heard’s claims during her testimony on Wednesday’s session. Johnny Depp reiterated the former’s statement and said Moss fell as she slipped on the stairs during a heavy downpour. He also mentioned that he once narrated the incident to Heard.

“As Kate Moss testified, many many years ago and what exactly happened is what she said happened. I recall speaking with Miss Heard about that very incident because of the downpouring of rain because it was raining very heavily the day Kate slipped. I recalled the story to her.”

The Pirates of the Caribbean star then accused Heard of twisting the story into an “ugly” incident and said that the rumor only existed in the latter’s mind:

“Miss Heard took the story and turned it into a very ugly incident all in her mind. There was never a moment where I pushed Kate down any set of stairs, yet she's spewed this three times before.”

Johnny Depp further detailed the day of the staircase incident and said he helped Kate Moss after she fell down the stairs of their bungalow in Jamaica:

“I remembered looking and seeing Kate coming out the door, and there were three little wooden stairs, and she slipped. Her legs went out, and she landed directly on her coccyx... She was obviously physically in pain. She was hurt, she was crying, so I ran over and grabbed her to make sure she was all right.”

The actor reaffirmed that it was the “whole story” and said that he never heard a rumor about the incident before Heard mentioned it in court.

---

What did Kate Moss say about the Johnny Depp staircase incident rumor?

Kate Moss testified Johnny Depp never pushed her down the stairs during relationship (Image via Getty Images)

Kate Moss took the stand as a rebuttal witness in the ongoing Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation case via video call. During her testimony, the model denied Heard’s claims of Depp pushing her down the stairs.

She shared that she slipped on the stairs while coming out of a room during a rainstorm in Jamaica:

“We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did. There had been a rainstorm and as I left the room I slid down the stairs. I hurt my back. And I screamed because I didn't know what had happened and I was in pain.”

Moss confirmed that Depp, in fact, helped her and got her the required medical attention:

“And he came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical attention.”

The fashion icon also reaffirmed that Johnny Depp was never violent towards her during their relationship:

“No, he never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs.”

Johnny Depp and Kate Moss met in 1994 through their mutual friend George Wayne and started dating shortly after. The pair garnered huge media attention and had a highly publicized relationship.

Moss told Vanity Fair in 2012 that no one ever cared for her the way Depp did, and said that her separation from the actor was a “nightmare.” Depp and Moss had a whirlwind romance but officially called it quits in 1998.