During Johnny Depp’s defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard, testimony from his former financial manager exposed the actor’s excessive spending habits.
Joel Mandel, Depp’s former financial manager, testified earlier this month that the actor, 58, made more than $600 million between 1999 and 2016.
During that time, he claimed, the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s spending habits were getting increasingly irresponsible.
epp lavished his fortune on homes, a fleet of luxury automobiles, private aircraft travel, and the cannoning of his late friend Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes. He also paid an addiction doctor $100,000 per month, a security detail $10,000 per day, and a full-time staff $300,000 per month.
Depp’s extravagant spending was first revealed in a 2016 countersuit from Mandel and his former business management company, The Management Group after Depp sued them alleging it grossly mismanaged his earnings.
A countersuit followed that claimed Depp’s lavish lifestyle that cost more than $2 million a month to maintain caused his recent financial troubles and that the star ignored their repeated warnings.
The company handled Depp’s finances during a lucrative time in his career as he launched the blockbuster ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise and other big-budget releases, including ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and the 2005 film ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’
Pirates of the Caribbean and its five sequels are estimated to have earned Depp more than $300 million, although he has now been axed from the movies, with a female-led reboot planned.
The lawsuit said Depp paid more than $75 million to buy and maintain 14 homes, including a French chateau and a chain of islands in the Bahamas.
Depp also spent heavily to buy a 150-foot yacht, fly on private jets and cultivate collections of fine art and Hollywood memorabilia requiring 12 storage facilities, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit against Mandel was settled in 2016, but Depp’s spending was once again in the spotlight when Mandel took the stand earlier this month in the Depp vs. Heard defamation trial, testifying that Depp had become increasingly irresponsible over the 17 years he worked with him, during which he estimated the actor had earned $600million.
He said spending levels became ‘very large’ around 2010 when Depp shot ‘The Rum Diaries’ where he met Heard. Mandel testified that Depp consumed more alcohol and drugs at the time and discussion of finances became rare.
Mandel’s deposition was shown to jurors as part of Depp’s lawsuit against Heard.
Depp alleges Heard defamed him when describing herself as a victim of domestic violence in a 2018 op-ed piece which he claims led to tarnishing his career and loss of potential earnings. Heard filed a $100 million countersuit alleging Depp physically assaulted her during their marriage, often while he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Jurors were tasked with deliberating whether either actor was defamed and deserves millions of dollars in damages.