Amber Heard's sister Whitney Heard Henriquez says Johnny Depp hit her in the back

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Amber Heard's sister Whitney Heard Henriquez testified Wednesday that Johnny Depp hit her during the pair's now-infamous staircase fight in 2015. 

"I’m standing up there with my back to the stairs. That’s when Johnny runs up the stairs," she told jurors of the March 23 altercation over Depp's alleged infidelity. "He comes up behind me, strikes me in the back. I hear Amber shout don’t hit my f--king sister. She smacks him, lands one."

At that point, Depp grabbed the "Aquaman" actress by the hair and repeatedly punched her in the face, Henriquez said. That's when his security guard allegedly stepped in.

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A photo combination of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in court May 18, 2022. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via Reuters)

Heard testified on direct examination that when she saw her sister standing at the top of the stairs and then saw Depp allegedly swing at Heard she went into protective mode. "I don’t hesitate. I just, in my head, think of Kate Moss and the stairs and I swung at him," she said, adding it was the first time she had "landed a blow."

Whitney Henriquez Heard testified May 18 in Johnny Depp's defamation trial against  Amber Heard. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via Reuters)

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Heard was referring to a rumor she said she had heard that Depp once pushed Moss down a staircase during a fight when the pair dated in the 1990s. But a source close to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star told Fox News Digital it isn't true, and the actor remains on good terms with the supermodel.

Johnny Depp and Kate Moss, who dated in the 1990s. (Ron Galella, Ltd. via Getty Images)

Henriquez was living rent-free in one Depp's penthouse apartments at the time but soon moved out after the actor accused her of selling stories about him to the press. 

Several witnesses -- including Depp and Heard -- have given differing accounts of the staircase incident. Depp and his security guard testified that Heard instigated the physical altercation by clocking Depp in the face, giving him a black eye.

Whitney Henriquez Heard took these photos after Johnny Depp allegedly destroyed Amber Heard's closet during a fight over infidelity.  (Screenshot of trial evidence)

After the bodyguard separated them, Depp allegedly rampaged through a room Heard used as a closet, tearing down shoe and clothing racks.

Jurors were shown photos that Henriquez took of the destruction.  

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Depp is suing Heard for $50 million in Fairfax County Circuit Court, in Virginia, over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post identifying herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." 

Depp has alleged it ruined his reputation and carer. Heard is countersuing her ex-husband for $100 million for calling her abuse allegations a "hoax."

The live-streamed trial continues Thursday with testimony expected from Ellen Barkin.