Kate Moss is sharing why she testified in support of former boyfriend Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. In May the British supermodel appeared via video link to dispute rumors, which Heard referenced in her own testimony, that Depp had pushed her down some stairs during their relationship, which last from 1994 to 1998.
“I believe in the truth and I believe in fairness and justice,” Moss, 48, said during her appearance on the BBC Radio 4 program Desert Islands Discs on Sunday, per the Sunday Times.
“I know the truth about Johnny,” she continued. I know he never kicked me down the stairs. I had to say that truth.”
Called as rebuttal witness by Depp’s legal team, Moss explained the incident that sparked the rumors that the actor, now 59, had gotten violent during their stay at the Goldeneye Resort in Jamaica.
“We were leaving the room and Johnny left the room before I did,” she told the court, noting that there had been a rainstorm.
“As I left the room I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back,” she went on. “And I screamed because I was in — I didn’t know what had 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 testified that Depp “never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs” at any point during their relationship.
The jury ultimately ruled in Depp’s favor, awarding the actor $10.35 million in damages. Last week Heard’s legal team filed to appeal the verdict, while Depp is seeking to throw out the $2 million the jury awarded his actress ex-wife stemming from one count of her countersuit accusing him of making defamatory claims against her.
In her Desert Islands Discs interview, Moss also spoke about being a “scapegoat” for the heroin-chic trend, the highs and lows of her modeling career and her defense of another notable figure: fashion designer John Galliano, who was ousted from Dior in 2011 after a video of him making anti-semitic remarks while drinking at a Paris bar went viral.
“I know that John Galliano is not a bad person. He had an alcohol problem, and people turn,” Moss said. “People aren’t themselves when they drink, and they say things that they would never say when they were sober.”
Moss has had her own brush with scandal, losing out on modeling contracts after she was photographed using cocaine in 2005.
“I felt sick and was quite angry because everybody I knew took drugs,” said Moss, who went to rehab and has abstained from drinking for the past four years. “For them to focus on me and try to take my daughter away was really hypocritical.”