Why did Kate Moss back Johnny Depp in the trial with Amber Heard?

After fiercely defending Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against Amber Heard, British supermodel Kate Moss has revealed why she spoke about the 'staircase incident'. Moss and Depp famously dated between 1994 and 1998.

Why did Kate defend Johnny? While the supermodel is infamous for barely giving any interviews or talking about her private life publicly, in an interview with BBC’s radio show Desert Island Discs, Moss told presenter Lauren Laverne that she ‘had to’ say the truth about Johnny.

She also talked about fashion designer John Galliano, who was found guilty of racist and antisemitic rants at people in a French bar in September 2011. He was fined €6,000 euros.

“I believe in the truth, and I believe in fairness and justice. I know that John Galliano is not a bad person – he had an alcohol problem and people turn. People aren’t themselves when they drink, and they say things that they would never say if they were sober. I know the truth about Johnny [Depp]. I know he never kicked me down the stairs. I had to say that truth,” said the supermodel.

You can hear Moss here:

Kate Moss's testimony: Moss took the stand in May to testify if Depp had pushed her down the stairs. She testified through a live video link from her mansion in Gloucestershire, UK.

”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,” she said.

Moss said that Depp had never injured her, in any way.

What was the staircase incident? During Moss and Depp’s relationship, in September 1994, the ex-couple got into a fight at New York's Mark Hotel, when Moss accused him of cheating on her.

The NYC Police arrived at the hotel and Depp was arrested for trashing his room. He was charged with 'criminal mischief' and asked to stay out of trouble for 6 months by a criminal court judge. Depp paid around US $10,000 in damages, and the charges were dropped.

At the time, Robb Report reported that Moss was found 'dishevelled' at the scene while People said that the New York Police Department found Depp in a state of 'possible intoxication' and Moss 'uninjured'.

This incident led to rumours that Depp had pushed Moss down a flight of stairs and up until the trial, Depp nor Moss had ever commented on the rumours. (Read more here: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial: What is the Kate Moss staircase incident?)

What did Moss have to testify? In her bombshell testimony, Heard said that she had punched Depp for the first time, only when she thought that he was going to push her sister, Whitney down the stairs.

'”She [Whitney] threw herself in the line of fire. She was trying to get Johnny to stop [fighting with Amber]. Whitney's back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her ... I don’t hesitate and wait, I instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs,” Heard testified.

Heard clarified in the same testimony that she had heard rumours of Depp pushing Moss down the stairs from other people.

Verdict: The Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial concluded with the verdict being mostly in Depp’s favour. The jury awarded US $15 million to Depp as  damages in his defamation trial and Heard was awarded US $2 million in her defamation countersuit.