Johnny Depp's lawyers celebrated as Amber Heard mentioned Kate Moss during trial, sources close to actor reveal reason

Earlier this week, during the ongoing defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, after the former mentioned British model and his ex Kate Moss in her testimony, Johnny and his legal team were seen celebrating. While many speculated the reason behind this reaction, a source close to the legal team has now spilled the beans. 

The incident took place on Monday when during her testimony to the court, Amber Heard repeated an allegation about Johnny concerning Kate. She mentioned that Johnny had once pushed Kate down the stairs in the 90s when they were together. Amber has claimed this earlier too, in a British court case in 2020.

However, the joyous response to this from Johnny and his legal team had many confused. New York Post has quoted a source close to Johnny Depp, who says, "Amber mentioned an ex of Johnny's that clearly she felt was not supportive of him, which couldn't be further from the truth." The source further claimed that the gesture from Johnny and his lawyer Benjamin Chew was a 'celebratory acknowledgement'.

Legal experts argue that Amber mentioning Kate here allows Johnny's team to call on the supermodel and refute the testimony, thereby calling Amber's credibility into question. "[Kate Moss] is still allegedly friends with Johnny and her testimony wasn't allowed to come in before because it wasn't as relevant. That's one mistake that [Amber] made, was bringing up Kate Moss, which potentially opened the door to [Johnny's team] bringing [Kate] on as an impeachment witness," California entertainment lawyer Mitra Ahouraian told New York Post.

On Monday, Amber was recounting a fight between her and Johnny that took place in March 2015 and also involved her sister Whitney Heard, who was trying to protect her. She said, "(Whitney's) back was to the staircase, and Johnny swings at her. I don't hesitate, I don't wait — I just, in my head, instantly think of Kate Moss and stairs. And I swung at him. In all of my relationship to date with Johnny, I hadn't landed a blow. And I, for the first time, hit him, square in the face. And he didn't push my sister down the stairs."

As soon as Amber said 'Kate Moss and the stairs,' Johnny and his lead attorney Ben Chew smiled, as seen in a video shared on YouTube. Ben turned around towards his team and pumped his first. He then turned to Johnny who was sitting next to him and said something to him.

Amber's claim about Johnny pushing Kate down the stairs was first made in 2020 during the trial of Johnny's unsuccessful lawsuit against The Sun for calling him a 'wife-beater.' Back then, Amber had said that she heard from two people that Johnny had pushed Kate down a staircase while they dated in the 1990s. Johnny's lawyers had claimed at the trial that this story was a total fabrication. Johnny and Kate were in a relationship from 1994-97.

The ongoing trial between Johnny and Amber in Virginia hinges on a 2018 newspaper article Amber did for the Washington Post. In it, Amber had talked about being a domestic abuse survivor but not named Johnny. Johnny claimed that the implication damaged his career. Johnny and Amber met while shooting for The Rum Diary. They married in 2015 but divorced less than two years later. Amber has claimed that she suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her ex-husband. In response, Johnny has denied all these charges adding that it was Amber who abused him.