Call him Johnny DEBT from now on. Sorry. had to. But it’s wildly amusing to read how crazy out of control Depp’s spending got and his equating paying his debts to selling his soul.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star’s desperate bid to climb out of debt was revealed as part of his ongoing $25 million lawsuit against his former business managers The Management Group and its principal Joel Mandel.
Depp has accused them of mismanaging his money — but Mandel and TMG have countersued, saying the actor was aware of his dire situation the entire time.
In an email exchange from December 2009 that was just made public, Mandel warned the cash-strapped “Edward Scissorhands” actor to “take it easy on holiday spending” and told him they need to meet to “look realistically at income and expenses and work together on how to make sure that these are back in balance,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The famous dad of two, 54, wrote back a day later, saying he was “doing my very best on holiday spending but there is only so much i can do, as i need to give my kiddies and famille [sic] as good a Christmas as possible, obviously within reason.”
“What else can i do??? you want me to sell some art??? i will. you want me to sell something else??? sure… what???” Depp wrote. “i got bikes, cars, property, books, paintings and some semblance of a soul left. where would you like me to start???”
But he was firm about not getting rid of his plane.
“A commercial flight with paparazzis in tow would be a f—ing nightmare of monumental proportions,” he wrote. “I don’t like being in this situation, but there wasn’t a whole lot of choice, as THE RUM DIARY was a sacrifice we knew would be happening and the last proper paycheck was PUBLIC ENEMIES. i will do my best, joel,” Depp added.
Depp made a combined $75 million from “The Tourist” in 2010, the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film and “Dark Shadows,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The award-winning actor has claimed his business managers squandered his Hollywood earnings by loaning out millions without his permission, failing to pay off other loans and incurring $8 million in unnecessary tax penalties.