It seems Johnny Depp is like most of us when it comes to being told to budget: it’s a lot easier said than done. However, Johnny’s massive $40 million debt is a lot more than any of us have even set our eyes on.
Johnny Depp is in the midst of a lawsuit that he filed against his former business management company, owned by Joel and Robert Mandel. Johnny is suing the duo for $25 million, stating that the brothers caused his financial collapse by mismanaging his money. The actor says that the wily brothers took tens of millions of dollars without his permission.
However, Joel Mandel has filed a countersuit and has provided emails that show that he warned the Pirates of the Caribbean actor against overspending back in December 2009.
In the emails, Mandel pleads with Depp to spend less over Christmas and to set a limit for himself at an auction of the wooden pistol that American gangster John Dillinger used to escape from an Indiana jail in 1934. Who can forget that Depp played Dillinger in Public Enemies? Remember that steamy bath scene?
The actor said he would not attend the Dillinger auction, which is lucky, as the wooden pistol ended up fetching AUD$116,000. But Johnny didn’t heed all of his manager’s advice. He contested that wanted to give his family “a great Christmas, and that the boat has already been chartered to sail over New Years.”
Johnny’s emails to his manager sound dismissive and a bit angry.
“What else can I do? You want me to sell some art? I will. You want me to sell something else? I got bikes, cars, property, books, paintings and some semblance of a soul left. Where would you like me to start?”
Selling your soul Johnny? Hope Davy Jones didn’t hear that!
Mandel is clear that these emails show that he is blameless in Depp’s financial demise.
Mandel’s statement claims that “Depp and Depp alone is responsible for his financial turmoil.”
Seeing as Depp spent $75 million on 14 residences in the South of France, $18 million on purchasing and remodelling a 150-foot yacht, splashed out $30,000 each month on wine, and spent $5 million on shooting the ashes of famed author Hunter S. Thompson out of a cannon, you can see where the dude’s coming from.
Yet Johnny argued in an interview that “It’s my money. If I want to buy 15,000 cotton balls a day, it’s my thing”.
True, but that’s probably not the best attitude to have right now, Johnny.
