The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial continues to heat up as another celebrity is set to testify this week. Actress, model, and fashion icon Kate Moss, who was in a romantic relationship with Depp in the 1990s, will reportedly take the stand on Wednesday via video link. She has never publicly accused Depp of being violent with her, and it's expected she will express as much in her upcoming testimony.
According to the New York Post, Moss was not originally expected to be called upon as a witness for the defamation trial. There was speculation she could end up getting called in after Heard mentioned Moss earlier in the trial. In her testimony, Heard described an alleged incident where Depp attacked her sister at the top of a staircase. Heard claimed she struck Depp in self-defense as she'd heard a "rumor" that he had previously thrown Moss down the stairs during their relationship.
After Heard mentioned Moss by name in her testimony, Depp's lawyers appeared to be celebrating. Legal experts theorized that this opened the door for team Depp to call in Moss as a witness to testify that the alleged staircase incident never happened. Moss is believed to be a "crucial character witness" for Depp coming in just days ahead of the last day of the trial, with the courtroom proceedings scheduled to wrap up by the end of the week.
Moss and Depp may not be very close these days, but she does not appear to have a negative opinion of her former lover. In 2012, she touched on the relationship in a Vanity Fair interview. Moss described Depp as someone who had taken care of her during their time together and spent years missing that feeling after they split up.
"There's nobody that's ever really been able to take care of me," Moss said. "Johnny did for a bit. I believed what he said. Like if I said, 'What do I do?,' he'd tell me. And that's what I missed when I left. I really lost that gauge of somebody I could trust. Nightmare. Years and years of crying. Oh, the tears!"
Johnny Depp's Exes Have Spoken Out
One person Depp previously dated testified on Heard's behalf. Ellen Barkin, called in as a witness by Heard's lawyers, had dated Depp during the late 1990s while filming Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. She characterized Depp as "jealous" and "controlling," which included accusations of sleeping with other people. Barkin also says Depp once threw a wine bottle "across the room," but not directly at her. Barkin did not allege that Depp had ever physically attacked her.
Meanwhile, Depp's other exes have previously spoken out on behalf of Depp. Ex-wife Vanessa Paradis, with whom he'd been married for 14 years, wrote a statement about her relationship with Depp for the 2020 trial in the UK. She claimed Depp had never once acted violently throughout their entire relationship.
"Through all these years I’ve known Johnny to be a kind, attentive, generous and non-violent person and father," Paradis said. "I am aware of the allegations which Amber Heard has publicly accused Johnny of for more than four years now. This is nothing like the true Johnny I have known, and from my personal experience of many years, I can say he was never violent or abusive to me. I have seen that these outrageous statements have been really distressing, and also caused damage to his career because unfortunately people have gone on believing these false facts. This is so upsetting as he has helped so many persons in his personal and professional life, with kindness and generosity.”
Depp also famously dated Winona Ryder, and she also submitted a statement for Depp. Ryder wrote that she can only speak to her personal experience, but that she had an incredibly difficult time believing any of the allegations against him.
"The idea that he is an incredibly violent person is the farthest thing from the Johnny I knew and loved. I cannot wrap my head around these accusations," Ryder explained. "He was never, never violent towards me. He was never, never abusive at all towards me. He has never been violent or abusive towards anybody I have seen. I truly and honestly only know him as a really good man – an incredibly loving, extremely caring guy who was so very protective of me and the people that he loves, and I felt so very, very safe with him."
She added, "I do not want to call anyone a liar but from my experience of Johnny, it is impossible to believe that such horrific allegations are true. I find it extremely upsetting, knowing him as I do.”