Amber Heard says she heard 'rumour' that Johnny Depp pushed Kate Moss down stairs
21 July 2020, 18:18
Amber Heard has said she punched Johnny Depp to protect her sister after she remembered a "rumour" that he had pushed Kate Moss down some stairs.
In the second day of giving evidence in her ex-husband's libel trial against The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater", the Aquaman actress said she was protecting her sister from also being pushed down the stairs when she took action.
She also rejected allegations that Tesla founder Elon Musk had visited her while Mr Depp was away in Australia.
Eleanor Laws QC, representing Mr Depp, asked about the "very nasty row" during the "stairs incident" in Los Angeles in March 2015, in which the 34-year-old said she thought Mr Depp was going to push her sister, Whitney Henriquez, down some stairs.
Ms Heard replied: "Johnny hit both myself and my sister," later adding: "I did strike Johnny that day in defence of my sister.
"He was about to push her down the stairs and, the moment before that happened, 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 rumour from two people and it was fresh in my mind."
"In a flash, I reacted in defence of her."
Ms Heard also denied that she spat at her former husband, nor thew a Red Bull can at him.
The actress also claimed that Mr Depp had punched her "for years" and that "for years I have never even hit him."
She added: "I never so much as landed a blow and I will never forget this incident... it was the first time after all these years (I hit him)."
In response, Ms Laws accused Ms Heard of changing her story as she had never mentioned the detail about Kate Moss in her 2016 deposition, adding: "You are just making this up as you go along."
Ms Heard said she "didn't have a chance" to mention the incident.
She said: "I've not had the liberty of time or space or energy even to list every thought that crossed my mind."
In earlier questioning, Ms Laws read out text messages between Ms Heard and Mr Musk from May 2016, where the former said she was going to take out a restraining order against Mr Depp.
It came after an incident in which Ms Heard alleged the actor threw a mobile phone that hit her in the face - something Mr Depp denies.
Ms Laws then said that Mr Musk had offered to "arrange 24/7 security for you", before he said he would understand "if you never want to see me again... anyway, sorry for being an idiot.
"The radio silence hurts a lot. It only matters because I really like you."
After reading the messages, Ms Laws questioned the actress regarding evidence given by a concierge at the building where she and Mr Depp lived, who said he saw Mr Musk visiting Ms Heard while her ex-husband was away.
Ms Heard said: "He's wrong. I wasn't even in communication with Elon until 2016."
Mr Depp is suing NGN and executive editor Dan Wootton over the publication of an article on 27 April 2018 with the headline: "Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?"
His lawyers say the article bore the meaning there was "overwhelming evidence" Mr Depp assaulted Ms Heard on a number of occasions and left her "in fear for her life".
NGN is defending the article as true, and says Mr Depp was "controlling and verbally and physically abusive towards Ms Heard, particularly when he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs".
Mr Depp is suing Ms Heard in separate libel proceedings in the US over a December 2018 column in the Washington Post, which did not mention Mr Depp by name, but said the actress received "the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out".
